Shouldn't I Know How to Hit?
by ebineez01
Summary: A (not so) short fic based on this question from Amanda to Billy. Set early season 1. Rated T just to be safe
1. Chapter 1

A/N

This is set fairly early in season 1, after Amanda asks Billy "Shouldn't I know how to hit?" in the episode 'Always look a gift horse in the mouth'  
The idea to make a short fic out of that question came from npieen's fantastic 'Scotch Thoughts and Window Reflections' series. I said I'd love to see Billy make Lee teach Amanda how to hit, and npieen thought it would make a good story. So hopefully this turns out to be a good story :) fingers crossed

As usual - don't own SMK, Lee :( or Amanda

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"I want you to know that I really appreciate this Lee," Amanda repeated for the umpteenth time as Lee led her into to the gym on one of the lower levels of the Agency.

Lee turned to look at Amanda as they entered. "Amanda," he replied. Again. For the umpteenth time. "I told you, this was Billy's idea."

Amanda closed her eyes briefly before looking back. "Oh, I know that."

Lee nodded as he turned back into the gym.

"You've made that _perfectly_ clear," she mumbled as she followed him over to a rack of equipment.

He handed her some light sparring gloves to try on for size. As he removed his sweatshirt he shook his head. "Shouldn't I know how to hit!"

"Lee," she began, looking into his eyes. "You know, you take all those years of training and experience you have for granted..."

"I do not!" Lee interrupted indignantly.

Shaking her head, Amanda tried to explain herself better. "What I mean to say is," she tried again. "You know how to protect yourself, you know what to do in an emergency or when someone's threatening you."

Lee nodded his agreement. "Of course I do."

"Right!" Amanda exclaimed. "I don't!" She waited for Lee to see her point.

"Amanda you're not an operative," he replied instead.

"I know that! But like I said to Mr. Melrose, our assignments have turned dangerous more often than not..."

"Amanda..."

"Lee, please let me finish," said Amanda, cutting off his argument. "You can't deny that we've run into our share of trouble together," she reasoned. "And you can't always be there to protect me..."

"Amanda..." He tried again, before being silenced by Amanda's raised hand.

"And I don't want you to have to always be worrying about me...because that could get you killed..." Amanda paused for a moment. "And I just don't think that I could handle that," she said softly.

Lee's expression softened at her admission.

Amanda was a bit embarrassed at her outburst, but she was determined to finish what she had to say. "And as a highly trained agent, Lee you have no idea how terrifying it can be to be confronted with all this stuff."

He started to see it from her point of view. And maybe it wasn't such a bad idea that she had a little hand to hand training after all, although he really hoped it wouldn't encourage her to put herself in more danger than she already did. _Maybe this isn't such a good idea!_

"Okay Amanda,"he conceded. "You've convinced me. Let's get on with it."

Amanda was just about to argue Lee's point when she realised what he had said. "I have?" She asked, amazed that he finally agreed with her on something.

"Yeah. Now let's get started," he said, glancing at his watch. "I have plans tonight."

"Of course you do," she mumbled as she put the gloves back to choose a smaller size.

Lee grabbed the gloves back off the rack. "No, these should be the right size for you," he insisted, reaching out to take hold of one of her hands, holding it up to examine it.

"They're way too big," Amanda argued, pulling her hand back from him, not really wanting him to be holding her hand when he had _'plans'_ tonight.

He pulled rolls of what looked like bandages from his bag. "You have to put these hand wraps on first," he explained. "So you need to leave a little extra room."

"Oh," Amanda replied, looking completely lost. "But I won't have these things on if I have to hit someone."

Lee smiled. "No, you won't," he agreed. "But if I'm going to teach you how to _hit,"_ he emphasised the word, his smile widening into a grin. "Then I don't want you hurting yourself by hitting me with your bare fist."

Amanda's eyes widened. "I'm going to be hitting _you!?"_

Lee laughed. "Yeah. And don't pretend you never thought about it," he joked, his smile fading as she didn't dispute it. He tossed her the hand wraps. "Put these on and I'll get some pads."

When he returned Amanda was still trying to wrap the first one around her hand. _"Amaaanda!"_

"Well I've never done this before!"

Sighing, Lee took the wraps from her. Looking around he pointed to a nearby bench. "Let's go sit over there and I'll help you with them."

Amanda nodded and moved over to the bench. "What?" She asked as Lee stood above her looking down.

"How am I supposed to do it like that?" He moved to straddle the bench next to her, indicating that she should do the same.

Amanda gave him her right hand and he began to wrap the cloth around it. She watched him as he bent towards her concentrating on his task.

He finished wrapping the first one and gave it a slap. "Feel anything?" He asked.

She felt plenty, but was sure that wasn't what he was asking about. "No."

"Good! Give me the other one."

She held out her left hand for him to repeat the process.

"You have really strong hands you know?" He commented not looking up.

"Oh well," Amanda replied feeling herself blush. "Wrangling two little boys every day..."

Lee finished tucking the end in. He repeated the slap with this hand. "Okay?"

Amanda nodded.

"Good," replied Lee as he stood and moved back to the equipment stand. "Now try these gloves again."

Amanda pulled on each glove, wrapping the velcro straps around her wrists. "They feel pretty good now," she admitted.

"See?" Asked Lee, a smug look on his face. "You shouldn't argue with your trainer!"

Amanda rolled her eyes as he turned his back to retrieve the pads.

"Okay," he said, raising the pads to his chest. "Let's see what you've got."

"You're not going to teach me any special secret agent moves?" She asked plaintively.

Lee dropped the pads back to his waist. "Not just yet no. I want to see what your natural movement is first...what your body is telling you to do, then I can best decide how to help you." He explained.

"Oh, that makes sense I guess," Amanda replied thoughtfully.

Lee smiled. "Your not my first you know Amanda."

Amanda cleared her throat hoping she wasn't blushing as much as she felt like she was. "_That_ I'm sure of," she mumbled in reply.

Lee watched Amanda move around as she punched into the pads he was holding. He was surprised to see that she didn't have a bad natural technique. It would be a good starting place for their lessons. And once he got her comfortable with striking something hard so she wouldn't do _herself_ more injury than an attacker, he would start with the defence. He threw a pad out towards her as she pulled a punch, striking her in the shoulder.

"Hey," she exclaimed rubbing her shoulder with her glove.

"The bad guy isn't just going to stand here and let you hit him you know," Lee reasoned.

"I know that!"

"So remember that a more important lesson than how to hit, is how to defend," Lee stressed.

"Then why didn't we start with that first?" Amanda asked, taking the pause in their training to go and get a bottle of water from her bag.

"Normally we would have," Lee replied, following her lead and grabbing some water for himself. "But you wanted to learn how to hit," he paused to take a long drink of water.

Amanda watched his throat work as he swallowed, drops of sweat running down the column of his neck as he tilted his head back. _Behave Amanda! Concentrate on what he's trying to teach you..._

Lee turned back to her. "And I knew you'd be too impatient to get to the hitting part to take proper notice of the defending part if we started there first."

Amanda looked down, knowing that he was right. "Yeah well..."

"Yeah well..." Lee replied, the corner of his mouth lifting a little as he pulled off the pads.

"Are we done already?" Amanda asked not able to hide the disappointment in her voice.

Lee smiled as he turned back to her. "No, we're not done already," he replied, amused by her obvious disappointment thinking they were finished their lesson. "I've seen how you move, now we're heading over to the bag so I can start to build on what you already have."

Amanda tossed her head. "You think I already have something?"

Lee nodded reluctantly. "What I saw wasn't too bad," he admitted. "But it needs some serious work," he added quickly at Amanda's beaming smile.

Amanda nodded. "You point and I'll punch coach!" She said as she practically bounded over to the punching bag.

Lee sighed shaking his head as he followed at a somewhat slower pace. _I hope I have the stamina to keep up with Amanda King! _At those words something else entirely popped into his head. He stopped in his tracks shaking his head to clear it. _Where the hell had that come from?!_ That image had definitely unsettled him. He didn't think of Amanda in _that way_. She was a suburban mother of two with a mortgage and a station wagon. So far removed from being his type that she was practically on another planet. Lee put the strange occurrence down to his upcoming date that night with Adrienne, the French model. _Now that is definitely my type_, he reassured himself as he joined Amanda at the punching bag.

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more training to come in the next chapters. :) hopefully next chapter should be up very soon


	2. Chapter 2

As it turned out their lesson didn't end up going for too much longer after that. For some reason Amanda couldn't seem to concentrate on what Lee was trying to teach her. Every time he'd try to put her in the right position to face the bag - or would be attacker, she'd keep moving away from him. At one point, he was getting so frustrated trying to explain to her what he wanted her to do he had moved behind her, placing his hands on her hips to try to move her into position and she practically jumped out of her skin.

Lee sighed heavily running his hand through his mussed hair. "Amanda!"

"I'm sorry," she replied. "You startled me!"

"The attacker is in _front_ of you," he reiterated. "The _bag_ is the attacker! _Not me!"_

"I know that!"

"Then why do you keep jumping away from me?"

"I...don't," she tried. "I guess this is all just so new to me you know?" She hoped that she sounded convincing.

Lee sighed again, his hands on his hips looking at her. "Okay," he allowed, raising a hand. "Maybe that's enough for today anyway. Let's pack up and we'll pick it up again tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" She asked.

"Yeah," he replied as he restacked the pads in the rack. "You never know when we'll be able to get time, so we might as well make the most of it while we can." Lee noticed the look on Amanda's face. "What?"

Amanda shrugged. "Did you ever consider that I might already have other plans for tomorrow?"

"Well do you?" He asked a little exasperated. He _was_ doing her a favour after all.

"No," she admitted.

"Well then..."

"Yeah well, it would just be nice of you'd consider it that's all."

"Okay Amanda," Lee agreed, plastering a smile on his face. "In future I'll make sure I consider that you might have other plans."

Amanda nodded her head, pleased that Lee had agreed. "Thank you."

Lee looked at his watch again. "Are you okay to get yourself out of those things?" He asked motioning to her gloved hands.

"Oh yes," Amanda replied.

"Good. Then if you'll excuse me," he began. "I _do_ have other plans. And I need to get cleaned up."

"Of course you do, yep." _Wouldn't want to keep you from your 'plans'._

Lee grabbed his sweatshirt and headed for the door. Stopping in the doorway he turned back to Amanda. "You did okay today."

"I did?" Amanda asked, a small smile replacing the frown she had worn seconds earlier.

Lee smiled. "Yeah, you did. I'll see you tomorrow huh?"

Amanda nodded her head enthusiastically. "You will."

Lee seemed to think of something else. "Oh, and Amanda?"

"Hmm?"

"Do me a favour tonight?"

"Yes?"

"Think about me." _What?!_ His brain screamed.

_What?! _Her brain screamed. "Ah, excuse me?"

Lee recovered quickly. "What I mean is, think about what I've been telling you today..."

"Oh, okay," Amanda replied. Not sure if she was relieved or disappointed.

"I don't want you to be as..." He paused searching for the right words. "...jumpy, tomorrow as you were today..."

"Ohhh,.."

"I can't teach you if you're going to keep running away from me every time I try to get close to you."

Amanda nodded solemnly. "Right."

Tapping his hand against the doorframe, Lee gave her one last smile before he headed out. "You have a good night Amanda."

Amanda waved a still gloved hand in his direction. "You too," she replied, not meaning a word. _Was it my imagination, or did he seem a little reluctant to leave?_ Amanda wondered as she removed the sparring gloves from her hands. She sat on the same bench to remove the hand wraps Lee had so expertly applied earlier. She smiled as she remembered the feeling of having him so close, leaning in towards her as he wrapped her hands. "He thinks I have strong hands," Amanda murmured to herself. After rerolling the wraps, she placed them in her bag. Standing up from the bench, she looked around to make sure everything was in its place before exiting the gym to make her way home.

/

"I'm home," Amanda called out as she entered the back door.

Dotty was wiping her hands on a towel as Amanda entered the kitchen. "Hello Amanda," she greeted as she embraced her daughter before pulling back, her nose scrunched up.

"What's with the look?" Amanda chuckled.

"You know I love you darling," her mother started. "But you smell like the boys gym bags."

"Oh," Amanda replied understanding.

"At the end of the week," her mother added.

"Ohhh!" Amanda replied. _Ohhhh!_ She thought miserably. _I smelled like this in front of Lee!_

"It's alright dear," Dotty soothed. "You have plenty of time before dinner to have a nice long bath if you want."

"Thank you mother," Amanda replied gratefully. "Are you sure you're okay to take care of dinner though?"

"Amanda!" Dotty exclaimed, pushing Amanda towards the stairs. "I remember when I took a couple of self defence classes years ago at the Y, I could hardly walk the next day! I was expecting you to turn up like this when you told me you and some friends from work would be stopping by the gym a few afternoons a week for self defence classes."

Amanda was suddenly very glad that she had been able to find a way to tell her mother about the lessons with Lee without having to stretch the truth too much. It certainly made things easier. And didn't make her feel nearly as bad for not being able to share the whole truth. Amanda gave her mother another quick hug. "Thank you mother. I don't know what I'd do without you." She said truthfully.

Dotty waved her away. "Just put in some extra bubbles for me."

Amanda smiled as she walked up the stairs. "I will mother," she called back over her shoulder.

/

Lee stepped out of the shower vigorously rubbing his hair with his towel. After quickly drying off he pulled on some boxer shorts and returned to the bathroom to study his reflection in the mirror. Running his hand down his jaw line he decided that a shave was definitely in order.

"Wouldn't want to be all scratchy for Amanda," he murmured to himself. As he was reaching for his shaving cream he stopped. He looked back to himself in the mirror. "You did _not_ just say what I thought you said!" He accused his reflection. His reflection stayed guiltily silent.

"_Adrienne_," he reminded himself. _My dates name is Adrienne!_ They sort of sounded the same he tried to reason. They started with the same letter at least. He sighed heavily as he applied the shaving cream to his face.

"_You_," he said, pointing at his reflection with his razor. "Have been spending far..._far_...too much time with Amanda King!"

/

Amanda sunk into the bubbles with a grateful sigh. "Ohhh, that's wonderful..." She simply sat for a moment, enjoying the feeling of the soothing hot water and the lovely fragrance of the candles her mother had bought at the village fair last week. Never one to indulge herself too deeply, she allowed herself this pleasure for only a few minutes before getting on with the business of actually bathing. When she was finished she went to rise out of the bath before stopping herself. She looked at her watch on the vanity.

"Oh what the heck," she whispered to herself, realising that she would still have at least a half hour before her mother was calling her for dinner. And the water was still so lovely and warm.

Amanda let herself sink back into the tub, her arms resting lightly on the sides. Closing her eyes she breathed in deeply, allowing herself to sink down just a little deeper. She could feel herself drifting off..._oh Lord, but I'm so tired..._

She was in that state, halfway between being awake and asleep when a vision entered her head. _Lee was sitting on the side of the tub massaging her aching shoulders with his strong hands, leaning down to place light kisses against her temple_...Amanda shot upright in the bath looking around her frantically for any signs of Lee Stetson.

"Oh my gosh!" She breathed covering her face with her hands. Stepping out of the tub she reached for her towel wrapping it around her body, before wrapping her hair up in another. She was too embarrassed to even face her reflection in the steamed up mirror as she fled to the safety of her own room.

Amanda tried not to think about what she had just been thinking about as she dressed quickly and went down stairs to see if her mother needed any help finishing off dinner.

"Amanda," Dotty said as she entered the kitchen. "I wasn't expecting you back down so soon."

"Oh...well," Amanda shrugged as she nibbled on a carrot stick from one of the plates her mother had laid out on the bench.

Dotty looked at her daughter, her brow furrowed. "Did you not enjoy your bath darling?"

"Not as much as I thought I was going to," Amanda admitted ruefully.

Dotty shrugged. "You need to learn how to relax Amanda."

Suddenly, the picture of Lee Stetson in her bathroom...sitting on the side of her tub...while she was in it...naked...him massaging her shoulders, came unbidden back to Amanda's mind. "Sometimes that's easier said than done mother," she complained. Wondering how she was _ever_ supposed to be able to relax again.

/

Lee almost giggled as _Adrienne_ nibbled her way down his neck.

_Hey! He was ticklish there okay?_

They'd had a very nice dinner, that Lee had had catered in for them. Followed by a bottle of even nicer wine. Now they'd made themselves comfortable on his couch with yet another bottle. He ran his hand down her slender arm, running his thumb over the inside of her wrist.

He had her eating out of his hand...so to speak. He could almost swear she was purring.

_So why aren't you enjoying yourself?_ His subconscious demanded.

Lee sighed heavily and began to push _Adrienne_ away from him. Having to deliberately remind himself of her name every five seconds definitely wasn't helping his mood.

She looked at him, confusion evident on her face. "Lee, darling," she breathed as she moved back towards him.

Lee laid his hands gently on her shoulders, holding her away. "I'm sorry," _get it right!_ he thought in a sudden panic. "_Adrienne_, but I just remembered I have an early...meeting in the morning that I couldn't get out of. Can we take a rain check on the rest of the evening?"

She eyed him suspiciously. "Since when has an early morning been a deterrent for you Lee?"

"Ahhh..." Lee knew what she was saying was true, but what else could he say?

Her face cleared suddenly. "There is someone else you are expecting tonight!"

"What? No!" Lee denied. He certainly wasn't expecting anyone else to turn up at his place tonight.

"Oh Lee!" Adrienne exclaimed angrily. "I know I am not the only woman you see..."

Lee opened his mouth to reply, but didn't get the chance.

"But I thought at least I would be the only woman you see in one night!" She cried as she stood from the couch.

Lee shook his head. "_Adrienne_," he pleaded. "You've got it all wrong."

She looked at him shrewdly. "Alright," she allowed as she sunk back to the couch. "Then prove it."

Lee grimaced. "I really do have to get up early for that meeting."

Adrienne smiled as she moved over him. "Darling," she purred. "You won't need to get up."

He looked at her questioningly.

"You just won't go to sleep," she explained as she tugged his earlobe into her mouth.

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Sorry about what this implies to all of you who don't like to think of Lee with anyone but Amanda. But we do know that he saw a lot of women in the early days that he knew her. At least this says that he was thinking of her :)

Erm...and there will be actual training in the next chapter - promise :)

Thanks for all the lovely reviews to the first chapter. I really appreciate them

Keep it up :) pretty please?


	3. Chapter 3

A/N

this chapter turned out w_ay_ longer than I had intended. But it just seemed to take off on its own :)

hope you enjoy

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"My, don't we look all chipper this morning," Amanda greeted cheerfully as Lee walked into the gym, his usual impeccable appearance somewhat lacking. The look he gave her in return made her keep any further comment about his appearance to herself.

"Geez," she mumbled. "Did someone get outta the wrong side of the bed this morning?" she asked as he sat heavily on the bench. _Looks like Lee didn't get much sleep last night,_ she thought to herself. Then she remembered. He had '_plans_' last night! _Or any sleep at all,_ she thought snippily.

"Amanda..." Lee started. He could feel himself about to say something he'd regret and reigned it in. After all, it wasn't Amanda's fault he was so tired and grumpy. Usually, the night before was enough to make up for the day after. But for some reason, this time it wasn't. He only had himself to blame for the way he was feeling right now. He took a deep breath and stood up to face her. "Amanda," he said, holding out a hand. "Come here."

Amanda hesitated a moment before walking over to him.

Lee grasped one of her hands, shaking it slightly. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely, looking her in the eye.

Amanda could feel the colour rising in her cheeks as he looked at her. "Aw, Lee. That's okay."

"Nope!" Lee exclaimed, letting her hand drop. "No it's not."

Amanda tossed her head slightly. "Date didn't go too well last night?" She asked, hoping she didn't sound too happy about that.

Lee sighed as he looked at her. Admitting that his date had gone _too_ well wasn't an option he was going to entertain. "I really prefer not to talk about it," he replied instead. "Let's just concentrate on turning you into a lethal hitting machine huh?" He said smiling.

Amanda returned the smile, sketching him a salute. "Yes sir!"

Lee took Amanda through some stretches, finding that his mood was improving.

"Will I be putting those same little gloves on again this morning?" Amanda asked as they continued their stretching.

"Yeah," Lee replied, his arms stretched high above his head. "We'll take up where we left off yesterday."

"Okay," Amanda replied, following his movements.

Lee paused a moment before adding, "That is, as long as you're going to be okay with me getting within arms reach of you today."

Amanda dropped her arms. "You surprised me yesterday," she explained truthfully. "I've never done anything like this before Lee. You should've warned me you were going to do that," she finished quietly.

Lee could see the discomfort on her face. "Amanda," he started, suddenly worried that he'd accidentally offended her by touching her yesterday. He'd never thought of that. "You know what? You're right, and I'm sorry."

Amanda looked at him, seeing that he was serious. She shrugged her shoulders. "That's okay, Lee," she reassured him. "I'm completely okay with it being part of the training, I just wasn't expecting it that's all. I promise I'll be ready for it today though."

Lee was relieved to hear her say that, and he could tell by her face that she really was telling the truth. "Okay then," he said clapping his hands together. "Let's get to some training huh?"

Amanda agreed, happy that that was all sorted out. She didn't want their training sessions discontinued practically before they'd started because she'd caused Lee to have some sort of guilt trip about touching her, when the training had had nothing to do with the reason why she'd freaked when he'd put his hands on her.

She pulled the hand wraps out of her bag, looking over at him, a little embarrassed. "I don't remember how you put these on yesterday," she admitted.

Lee shook his head smiling. "That's okay," he said as he motioned her towards the bench. "It's much easier if someone else does it for you anyway."

"Oh, okay," she replied as she straddled the bench to face him the way she had yesterday.

Lee sat on the bench and faced Amanda, realising what a jerk he had been yesterday throwing the hand wraps to her to put on, when he knew she would have no way of knowing how to wrap them properly. He shook his head at his own attitude yesterday. He'd been feeling sorry for himself that Billy had lumped him with training Amanda, seeing it as being below his abilities. He realised now that training someone like Amanda was about the best test of his teaching skills he could ever have, and that was how he was determined to treat this from now on. Because Amanda wasn't an agent, he didn't have to follow any specific training regime or do exhaustive testing on her abilities.

"You know what?" He said as he took up one of her hands. "I'm sorry for being such a jerk yesterday..."

Amanda looked a little alarmed. "Who are you and what have you done with Lee Stetson?"

Lee laughed. "We should be enjoying this," he continued.

Amanda looked even more worried. "Lee," she started. "Are you planning on killing me and making it look like a training accident?" She finished, only half joking, his sudden change in attitude alarming her almost more than his hands on her had yesterday.

"What?! No! _Amanda_..." He said exasperated. "I'm really trying to be nice here!"

"That's what's worrying me," she admitted.

Lee sighed looking heavenward. "Look," he said facing her again. "I've never actually trained anyone like you before, so..."

"What's that mean?"

"What? What's what mean?" He asked.

"Anyone like me..."

"Ah, a civilian. Someone with absolutely no prior training."

"Oh," she replied thoughtfully.

"So we don't have to follow a plan, we can just do what we feel like at the time, understand?"

She shrugged. "I guess so."

He nodded, pleased he seemed to be getting through to her finally. "Okay, so," he said as he started to wrap her right hand, "we'll go back to the bag this morning. I'll show you what you were doing wrong yesterday, and then we can practice that for a while."

"Then what?" She asked, liking the sensation of him holding tightly onto her hand as he wrapped it.

He looked up as he finished her right hand. "Then we can talk about what we want to move onto next."

Amanda's eyebrows rose. "You actually want my input?"

Lee smiled. "Sure I do," he replied as he picked up her left hand to begin wrapping it as well.

"Okay," she replied softly.

Lee finished and lightly slapped her left hand back down. "Let's get to it killer!" He said, gently punching her in the shoulder.

He was almost to the punching bag when he seemed to think of something. "You know, it'll probably help if I show you the moves as we're covering them."

Amanda nodded her agreement.

"Take your gloves back off for a minute and go sit back on the bench," he ordered.

Amanda sat back on the bench removing her sparring gloves as Lee had instructed. She looked back up when he sat in front of her again.

"Here," he said, handing her another set of hand wraps.

Amanda took them from him and looked at them for a moment.

"It'll be good practice for you putting them on me," he explained.

"Oh," Amanda replied, her stomach doing a little flip as she thought of holding onto his hands to wrap them up. _His lovely, slender hands... _She cleared her throat as he held up his left hand for her to take.

Lee guided Amanda through how to apply the wraps to his hands properly. He took the time to study her as she bent her head to the task. He loved that little crease she got between her brows when she concentrated hard on something. He startled himself by almost reaching out with his free hand to smooth it out. He swallowed hard. _What the hell are you thinking Stetson?!_ His heart was pounding, his mind still reeling a little from his sudden urge to touch her when she looked up to him smiling.

Amanda's smile faltered slightly when she saw Lee's face. She looked back down to his hand, still held where it had been. "Did I do something wrong?" She asked, concern evident in her voice.

Lee snapped out of it at the sound of her voice. "Slap it,"

"Huh?"

He laughed at the look on her face. "My hand Amanda! To see if it feels okay, remember?"

"Oh right," she replied, colouring as she remembered his comment to her a few weeks ago. _Get your mind outta the gutter would ya?_

Under Lee's expert tutelage, Amanda finished wrapping his hands, remembering to slap the right one without being told.

They donned their gloves and moved over to the punching bag together, Lee standing in front of it, showing her how to place her feet correctly so that her weight was evenly balanced.

"Balance is very important," he explained. "If you don't keep your balance, then it's easier for the other guy to get you on the ground."

"And that's bad," Amanda replied seriously.

Lee smiled and nodded. "That is _very_ bad. But you'll learn later what to do if that happens."

"Oh, good," Amanda replied smiling back.

"Okay, now," Lee started, getting back to the training. "You've got your feet placed correctly..."

"Check," Amanda nodded.

"I'm going to throw a punch at the bag, then I want you to repeat exactly what I've done, okay?"

"Yep." Amanda watched as Lee struck the bag. _Gosh that's impressive..._

Lee looked expectantly at Amanda.

"Oh, right," Amanda said, remembering that she was supposed to do what Lee did. She readied herself and let fly. "Ouch!" She cried after making contact with the hard heavy bag. "That hurts!"

"That's because you didn't do it right," Lee explained.

"I did what you did," Amanda argued as she rubbed at her jarred shoulder.

Lee shook his head. "Watch me again okay?"

Amanda nodded, watching as Lee repeated his move, punching the bag hard so that it swung on its chain.

"Now," said Lee as he looked at her. "What you did was this..."

Amanda watched as Lee struck out with his right arm next to the bag.

"Do you see the difference?"

Amanda wanted to say that she did. But she really didn't. She shook her head. "No, I'm sorry Lee. It just looked the same to me."

Lee thought for a moment. "Come over beside my right side here."

Amanda moved next to him.

"Now put your left hand between my shoulder blades," he instructed.

"Ah, okay," Amanda replied, doing as he said. _Oh my gosh..._

"And now your right hand on my right shoulder." When Amanda placed her hands on him, what Lee really felt like doing was turning towards her not staying facing the punching bag. But he was here to teach her self defence, nothing else.

_He has really nice shoulders,_ Amanda thought as she placed her right hand where he told he to. "What now?" She asked when nothing happened.

Lee cleared his throat, trying to get his mind back on what he was meant to be doing. "Now I'm going to repeat both punches, and you see of you can feel the difference in what my body is doing okay?"

"Ohhh," Amanda replied suddenly understanding. "Okay."

"I'll do what you did first okay? Without hitting the bag."

"Right." Amanda took in how his muscles felt under her hands as he moved. _Concentrate Amanda!_

"Could you feel how my torso didn't really move? And my shoulder and arm rotated outwards? Most of the force of the punch would come from my shoulder and arm."

Amanda nodded.

"Okay. Now for the proper way. You ready?"

"Yep." At least she thought she was. As Lee struck out at the bag he nearly knocked her off her feet. "Whoa!"

"Feel the difference that time?"

"Oh yeah!" Amanda replied. "You're body moved more. And your shoulder stayed straight."

Lee nodded and smiled. "That's right," he agreed. "Could you feel how much more force was in the punch from me putting my weight behind it? And also, keeping your striking motion straighter through your shoulder rather than letting it rotate out keeps everything in line and you get less jarring."

Amanda nodded, but he could tell she still looked a little confused.

"Have a go at trying it the right way without hitting the bag," he suggested.

Amanda did as he asked, trying to keep her feet in the correct position while throwing out some air punches.

Lee watched her for a minute. "That's definitely better," he muttered. "Can we try something?"

"Of course," Amanda replied looking at him.

Lee moved behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Now take up your stance," he said, waiting for her to get her feet back into position. "I'm going to get you to have another go, but I'm going to see if I can help you from here by moving your shoulders as you hit okay?"

"Okay," Amanda replied, really very glad that Lee was taking this so seriously, and talking her through what he was going to do first.

"On three I want you to strike, and if it feels okay to you we'll keep doing it a few times," he suggested.

"Right," Amanda replied.

"One...two...three..."

As Amanda punched at the air, Lee pushed her right shoulder forward, holding her left shoulder in place, making her body pivot from the centre.

"One...two...three..."

They did this several times until Lee released her and moved to face her. "How did that feel?" He asked.

"Amazing," Amanda replied, a huge grin plastered on her face.

Lee's eyebrows rose.

"I could really feel the difference," she added desperately, hoping he didn't think she was talking about having his hands on her.

"Good," Lee replied after a moment. "Now we've got your body moving better, we need to work on how you're moving your shoulder."

Next Lee demonstrated the punch in a slower motion so she could see how his shoulder stayed straight through the motion. He had her stand next to him so they could perform the manoeuvre together. "You're still throwing your arm out a little," he said as he repeated the motion with her again. "You keep going and I'm going to see if I can't straighten you out."

Amanda nodded, concentrating on what she was doing.

Lee moved to her right side. "Okay, slow it right down for me," he said.

Amanda slowed her movements as he asked.

As Amanda started her movement Lee reached out and rotated her shoulder in towards her body. "And keep you fist straighter," he commented. "Again." As Amanda moved again, Lee positioned his left hand on her right shoulder keeping it in line with her body, his right hand on her right wrist keeping it straight on to her forearm. "Again," he commanded, keeping his hands loosely on her, so he moved with her.

Amanda pulled her arm back and repeated the movements as Lee instructed.

After four or five more go's Lee let his hands drop away, pleased to see that Amanda was keeping her movement true. "Just keep going like that," he said. "You're doing really well." He walked around her slowly, observing as she continued the movements. "Concentrate," he barked, as he noticed her start to rotate her shoulder out again.

Amanda jumped a little at his voice, not expecting it to be so loud. She could feel that her shoulder had started to rotate out again though, so corrected it.

Lee nodded. "That's good Amanda," he said after a while. "Do you want to rest for a bit? Or do you want to have another go at hitting the bag?"

Amanda was a little puffed, but she was also exhilarated. "Bag," she replied.

Lee smiled. "Bag it is then," he replied. "Remember your stance, move through the punch, and keep your shoulder and wrist straight on."

Amanda nodded, ready to go.

"When you're ready," Lee said gesturing towards the bag.

Amanda paused a moment, just to get her thoughts straight. _Stance, move through the punch, keep my shoulder and wrist straight... _Then she lashed out at the bag with everything she had.

Lee watched the bag swing back on its mount. "Whoa Amanda!" He called, clapping his hands slowly. "I feel sorry for the guy on the other end of that!"

Amanda tossed her head, so happy she could hardly contain herself. "It was pretty good huh?"

Lee nodded, his eyebrows raised. "I'm impressed."

"You are?" She squeaked.

"Yep," he replied sincerely. She'd been working hard this morning and she deserved the praise. That thought niggled at the back of his brain. "How's the shoulder this time?"

Amanda looked surprised. "You know I didn't even think of that," she admitted. "It feels great," she continued as she rotated it easily. "Didn't hurt at all."

"So you see the difference the right technique makes, both to you and to what your hitting?"

Amanda nodded her head understanding exactly what Lee was talking about. The first attempt she'd made at hitting the bag had jarred her shoulder and hadn't even made the bag budge an inch. This time she didn't feel any pain, and the bag had moved at least two inches.

"You wanna take a break now?" Lee asked already turning towards the bench.

"Actually I'd like to keep practicing at this for a little while," Amanda replied.

Lee stopped and turned back to her. "Be my guest," he replied. "Just keep in mind what we've learnt this morning."

"What are you going to do?" She asked as he sat on the bench.

He smiled as he pulled a bottle of water from his bag. "_I_, am going to sit right here, and watch _you_," he replied, taking a long drink of water.

"Talk about making someone nervous," Amanda mumbled as she turned back to the bag.

Lee watched closely as Amanda worked at the bag, genuinely pleased by her progress and quite impressed by how much power she seemed to be able to get into her punches.

After a little while longer Lee called to Amanda to take a break.

"But I want to keep going," Amanda complained as she faced him.

Lee shook his head. "You're going to be sore tomorrow."

"I'll be okay," Amanda insisted.

"Take at least a few minutes break while I go get the pads," he ordered. "Then we'll see how much you've learned today."

Reluctantly Amanda agreed, not realising how thirsty she was until she started to drink.

"Whoa!" Lee called, grabbing the bottle from her. "You'll make yourself sick!"

Amanda relinquished the bottle to him, ready to get back into her training.

Lee knocked the pads together holding them up in front of him. "Gimme all you got," he told her, bracing himself.

Amanda took the time to get herself into position. Pulling her fists up to her chin, she let go a right jab into the middle of Lee's left pad.

The force behind Amanda's blows really surprised Lee. He didn't think she had it in her. He held the pads for her for about five minutes, holding up one or the other for her to aim at, watching her technique closely. "Last one," he called out, starting to get a little tired himself.

Amanda decided to give this one all she had. She smiled as he rocked back from the blow. _Take that Scarecrow..._

Lee dropped the pads. He definitely wasn't prepared for the intensity of Amanda's last strike, glad he had the pads in front of him to soften the blow. She really seemed to be enjoying hitting him a little too much, he thought shaking his arms out. _I really hope I'm never on the receiving end of one of those..._

_::::::::::::::_

sorry if the 'hitting' techniques weren't spot on, but I'm no boxing coach :-)

next Lee will be teaching Amanda how to defend herself. And then maybe some hand to hand techniques ;-)

thanks everyone for all the reviews :-) I really appreciate the feedback


	4. Chapter 4

"Amanda, what _have_ you been doing?" Dotty asked as she watched Amanda struggle to lift the boys Bomber bag high enough to get it on the shelf in the closet.

"Learning how to hit mother," Amanda replied dropping her aching arms back to her sides.

"Looks like you really overdid it at the gym yesterday darling," Dotty observed.

Amanda nodded her head. "I think you might be right mother." She had been so sore when she woke up this morning it had taken her a few minutes to get herself out of bed, and even then it had hurt. A lot!

Dotty shook her head. "You need to pace yourself darling, you can't just do it all in one go."

"I'm learning _that,"_ Amanda agreed. "It's just that I seemed to be making such good progress I wanted to keep going with it."

"Well your trainer should have known better!"

"He did mother," Amanda replied, defending Lee. "He asked me several times to take a break...I think I'll listen to him next time."

"Well it _is_ what he's getting paid for Amanda," replied Dotty as she turned back to dusting the hall table.

Amanda sighed as she moved into the kitchen to look out the window. Deep down she missed Lee when she had to go without seeing him, but she was almost glad he rang this morning to cancel their training session for the day. That is until he added that an overseas assignment had come up and he'd actually have to cancel their training sessions for a while. She would have gladly put up with the pain another training session would have caused compared to the alternative.

:::::::::::

Lee stood at the coffee pot, stretching and rotating his shoulders and arms as he waited for the coffee to finish brewing. If _he_ felt like this after yesterday's workout he could only imagine how Amanda must be feeling.

Francine smiled as she watched Lee pour his coffee. "Rough night Scarecrow?" She asked as she held her mug out for him to fill.

Lee was in the middle of stretching out his neck muscles when he heard Francine's voice. He looked at her as he poured her coffee. "_Those_ workouts I _never_ have any trouble with," he replied with a smirk.

Francine rolled her eyes at the typical Scarecrow response. "So what's with the stretching then?"

Lee paused for a moment. Up until now he'd managed to keep his training Amanda just between him, Amanda and Billy. He didn't really want Francine to know about it because he knew she'd end up coming down to the gym with comments that would do no one any good. In the end though he decided to just tell her the truth, mostly because he was too tired to think of anything else.

He shrugged, trying to make his response sound matter of fact. "You know how Amanda's been going on about getting some training..."

Francine's face lit up. "Oh you're not..."

Lee rolled his eyes at her. "Billy's making me do it," he replied, trying to make it sound more like the chore he originally thought it would be, rather than the pleasant surprise it had turned out to be.

"Well of course," she replied. "But this is still too priceless!"

"Yeah well," Lee griped. "Now you know. And now you can shut up about it!"

Francine smiled. "Maybe I'll just come for a visit during your next session..."

"Francine..." Lee warned.

Francine's face morphed in an instant to one of complete innocence. "For moral support purposes of course."

"Oh, of course..." Lee ground out sarcastically.

"When you two are ready," called Billy from his office doorway.

Lee and Francine exchanged one last glance then headed towards Billy's office.

Billy grinned when he saw that Scarecrow was moving a bit stiffly this morning. "Training been going well?"

Lee stopped and gave Billy a withering glance.

Billy chuckled in response, but Lee was hard pressed to see what was supposed to be so amusing about all this.

"Seriously though, how is Amanda going?" Billy asked as he closed his office door behind Lee and moved behind his desk.

Lee was glad he'd decided to tell Francine the truth a few minutes ago. It saved some explaining now that Billy had let the cat out of the bag anyway. He considered his answer for a moment. "Well, in usual Amanda fashion, she _is_ trying my patience..._buuut_...she's actually going pretty well," he replied honestly.

Billy nodded as he took his seat. "Good to hear Scarecrow," he replied sincerely. He liked Amanda King, and wanted her around for some time to come. "I knew if anyone could bring out the best in her it would be you."

Lee snorted. "So I suppose _that's_ your justification for handing her training over to me in the first place instead of one of the usual instructors?"

Billy smiled. "You got it." When Lee looked skeptical, he continued. "Would you rather me have Francine train her?"

Francine nearly spat out her coffee. "_What_!?" She demanded.

Lee turned to her, a mischievous look coming over his face. "You know...that might not be such a bad idea Billy," he started seriously, struggling to keep a straight face. "I do have this assignment in Panama coming up..."

Francine looked panicked. "Oh, no. No, you can't be seriously contemplating..."

Billy caught on quickly and followed Lee's lead, nodding gravely as if seriously considering the suggestion. "That is true Scarecrow...and it would benefit Mrs. King if she kept up the training while you were away."

At the look on Francine's face, neither man could keep up the charade any longer. First Billy cracked a smile, then Lee burst out laughing.

Francine stared daggers at them. "Oh, very funny." When Billy started laughing as well she continued. "Laugh it up you two...you know what they say about payback!"

After a few more moments, even Francine couldn't help but let her icy demeanour slip in the face of the mirth of her two friends. The three of them had worked together for a long time, and small digs like these had become common place between them. "Yeah, yeah...okay..."

"Okay, back to business..." Billy said after a few moments and the three turned their attention to the case at hand.

::::::::::::::

"Oh, okay," Amanda replied to the person on the other end of the phone line. She hoped the huge smile that was currently plastered all over her face didn't transmit down the line. "Well what time would you like me to meet you? Yes I can make it then. Okay, I'll meet you in the gym at six-thirty tomorrow evening." She hung up the phone and sat down on a stool at her kitchen bench. Placing an elbow on the bench she propped her chin on her hand and sighed. Lee's phone call had made her day. After their conversation this morning she had thought Lee was about to fly off to parts unknown on some overseas mission, but apparently after a meeting with Billy there turned out to be some things that needed to be sorted out here before he could go. This meant that his overseas mission had been postponed for the time being, meaning their training sessions could resume tomorrow. Her muscles had been sore this morning, but she pushed through the pain and found that the more she worked them during the course of doing her household chores, the better she felt. She began wondering what Lee would have in store for her the following evening when Dotty came through the back door.

"Earth to Amanda..." Dotty called out as she removed her coat.

Amanda mentally gave herself a shake. "I'm sorry mother?"

Dotty stopped her movements to look at her daughter. "Amanda, what on _earth_ could you be thinking about that had you staring off into space like that?"

Amanda smiled widely. "Oh, you know...just the usual mother. Dinner, the boys homework..."

Dotty scrutinised her closely, the look on her face making it more than clear she didn't believe a word of _that_ excuse. "Yes, well," she replied, looking at Amanda a moment longer before turning back to dig through her bag. "Whatever you say dear."

Amanda opened the refrigerator to take out the pork chops for dinner. "My self defence classes are back on again tomorrow."

"Oh?" Queried Dotty as she washed her hands at the sink to help Amanda prepare dinner. "I thought you said the instructor had to go out of town?"

"Well that's what he thought too," Amanda confirmed, busying herself with arranging the meat in the bottom of a baking dish. "But apparently his trip has been postponed."

Dotty shrugged. "Well that's good news for you I suppose."

Amanda tried not to let her smile get too wide at that thought. "The class isn't until six-thirty tomorrow evening though," she added. "Will you be alright to fix dinner and watch the boys?"

Dotty took her head out of the refrigerator to look at her daughter. "Amanda," she said in a slightly exasperated tone. "You know you don't have to ask that."

"I know mother," Amanda replied. "But you know I don't like to feel like I'm taking advantage of you."

Dotty wrapped her arms around Amanda in a hug. "I know love," she replied, pulling back. "And I appreciate the sentiment. But you know I always let you know if I've got plans. And tomorrow, I don't have plans."

Amanda chuckled lightly at her mothers response. "Well you seem to have quite a few suitors these days mother...I do find it difficult to keep up sometimes," Amanda only half joked.

Dotty returned to the refrigerator, before turning back. "You know I don't like to stick my nose in..."

Amanda's smile grew just a little more rigid, sure she knew what was coming.

"But _why_ you suddenly decided to stop seeing Dean...I'll _never_ know..."

"We've talked about this mother," Amanda replied, trying to keep the hint of annoyance from her voice.

"But it seemed so _sudden_ darling," she continued, either unaware of or choosing to ignore Amanda's obvious reluctance to discuss the topic. Dotty held out a hand before her, palm out, fingers splayed...a gesture Amanda was all too familiar with. "I'm just saying, that one minute you seemed to be as happy as two pigs in a blanket..."

"_What?!_"

"Then there you were out in the garden telling poor Dean that you didn't think you should see each other anymore!"

"_Mother_!" exclaimed Amanda. "Were you _eavesdropping_ on us?"

Dotty rolled her eyes. "Of course not darling!" Dotty replied. "I just knew you were out in the garden and then when you came inside..._alone_...you said you and Dean had broken up. Of course that was the conclusion I was going to come to."

Amanda sighed, hoping the latter was true and that her mother had indeed _not_ been spying on her and Dean.

"Amanda," started Dotty. "You know you can tell me anything."

Amanda nodded, also knowing where _this_ was going. "Yes mother."

"So if there was..._is_...someone else..."

Amanda adamantly shook her head. "There really isn't..._anyone_...mother."

"Alright darling," she replied, thankfully ready to let the subject drop. She walked over and kissed her daughter on the forehead. "I love you Amanda."

Amanda let her hands rest lightly on her mothers shoulders and smiled, happy to have the subject closed. For now at least. "I love you too mother."

:::::::::::::::

After he'd set the time with Amanda for the following day, Lee put the phone back on the hook. He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk, linking his hands behind his head. He wondered what had caused him to make the time he was meeting Amanda so late in the day. He didn't have anything else in particular scheduled for tomorrow, at least nothing that had to be done early in the day. He could have, and was intending on, making the time mid morning. But then she'd asked him the question and six-thirty had come out.

_Maybe because by the time you're finished the gym, and pretty much the rest of the building will be deserted, _his subconscious chimed in. Lee cut that thought off before it had a chance to go _any_ further.

"And _why_ am I even thinking about this?" He asked quietly, shaking his head.

He sighed as he dropped his legs back to the floor. Pulling on his jacket he left the bullpen heading for Ned's, determined _not_ to think about Amanda King anymore tonight.

!

A/N

thanks to everyone for the lovely reviews :) and to the guest reviewers too

also thanks to one of those guest reviewers who suggested that Francine might make an appearance

I know there was no training in this chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.

and please keep those lovely reviews coming - I really do appreciate them all :D


	5. Chapter 5

A/N

sorry to do this to you guys, but ch5 & ch6 is really one chapter that I've split in two parts as it was just getting too long to be a single chapter.

Hope you enjoy :)

::::::::::::::::::::

Lee looked up when Amanda entered the gym. He smiled as she walked towards him. "And how are you this evening Amanda?"

Amanda couldn't help but return his beautiful smile. "I'm very well, thank you for asking Lee."

"No trouble getting out tonight?" He asked.

Amanda shook her head. "Nope," she confirmed. "Mother has everything under control."

Lee nodded. "Well that's good," he replied. "Did you feel okay yesterday after our workout on Wednesday?"

Amanda grimaced slightly. "I have to admit, I was a tad sore..."

Lee's eyebrows rose, a small smile quirking his lips. "A _tad_ sore?"

Amanda tossed her head. "A _lot_ sore," she admitted. "What about you?"

"Hmmm?" Lee asked, pretending he didn't know what she was referring to. "What about me what?"

"Well, were you sore too?"

Lee chuckled slightly. "Me? After _that_ little workout?" He asked incredulously.

Amanda titled her head to the side before quickly reaching out to squeeze his shoulder.

"Hey!" He protested pulling away from her. "That hurt!"

A small smile played at Amanda's lips. "Not sore huh?"

Lee straightened and gave her a look, trying to regain some of his dignity. "That was from something else entirely," he lied _very_ unconvincingly.

"Oh...of course it was," Amanda replied.

"Could we get on with this please?" Lee asked, wanting to get away from the topic, even though he was the one who'd brought it up in the first place.

Amanda turned to get the hand wraps out of her bag, smiling secretly to herself at the knowledge that she'd managed to put the infamous Scarecrow through his paces during their last workout.

When she turned back to face him, Lee took the hand wraps from her, tossing them over her shoulder back into her bag. "We're not hitting today," he said.

"Oh, we're not?" Asked Amanda, eager to know what Lee had in store for her.

Lee shook his head. "Nope..." He turned slightly, waving his arm at half a dozen gym mats that had been placed on the floor. "We're going to start on some hand to hand techniques today."

Amanda stared at the mats, the implications of what 'hand to hand' training meant streaming through her brain. _Oh my gosh...oh my gosh...oh my gosh...__  
_

Lee was standing with his hands on his hips, a slightly puzzled look on his face as he watched Amanda looking at the mats. "Amanda?"

Amanda's gaze whipped back to Lee. "Okay..." was all she managed to force out, after what seemed an uncomfortably long silence.

Lee looked at her a moment longer before he nodded and moved over to the mats. "Okay."

They went through their stretching routine again before they started, Amanda trying to hide her smile, as Lee tried to hide his discomfort as he stretched.

"So how do we start with this?" She asked.

"The first thing I want you to remember Amanda, is this training we're doing is to be used as a _last resort only_."

"But Lee..."

"Amanda..." Lee cut in. "The _very_ first thing I want you to think about doing if you get into trouble is running and hiding."

"But if you're in trouble..."

"Then I'll get myself out of it..."

Amanda bit her tongue at that remark. She could think of more than a few times over the last few months that Lee hadn't '_gotten himself out of it'_.

Lee sighed, realising that he was probably being a bit hard on her. He moved to her and took her hands in his, making her look him in the eyes. "Amanda, I'm telling you this for my own benefit as much as yours."

"You are?"

"Yes," he replied softly, causing Amanda to move a little closer to him to be able to hear him better. "I worry about you when you're out there you know?"

"You do?" She asked, her voice cracking a little as she tried not to get lost in those incredible eyes.

Lee's expression softened even further as he gave her a small smile. "Of course I do," he replied. "I know you're only in this business because of me...and I'd never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you."

"You wouldn't?"

Lee shook his head, hoping he wasn't laying it on too thickly. He wasn't lying to Amanda, he really did feel all those things. But he was also using the charm he knew he had to hopefully make her see things his way. And _not_ want to argue about what he was trying to tell her.

Just then someone else entered the gym, and Lee pulled away from Amanda like he was a teenage boy caught by his girls dad doing something he wasn't meant to be doing. Clearing his throat he looked over to see Brad Matthews walking over to the free weight stand.

Brad looked over to them and smiled. "Working at it pretty late tonight Scarecrow," he called.

"Yeah," Lee replied to the other Agent.

It took Amanda a few seconds to process what had happened. One moment she was looking into Lee's eyes, hearing all those lovely things he was saying to her...and then the next moment he was gone. _Why is he gone?_ Her brain complained. Then she realised he was talking to someone else. She looked over at the other man, vaguely recognising him from the corridors of the Agency. She was sure he must have been from a different department to Lee though as she didn't think she'd ever seen him in the area Mr. Melrose looked after.

Lee turned back to Amanda, not wanting to get caught up in a conversation when he and Amanda hadn't even started their training session yet.

"Now," Lee started. "As I was saying, the first step in your self defence plan is to turn tail and run. Then find a good place to hide..."

Amanda gave Lee a look, but knew it would be pointless to argue, so she just listened instead.

"Amanda?"

"Yes, _alright_!" She answered. "I get it...I get it...hide..."

"Good! Now, if that's not an option..." he replied, trailing off.

"Lee?" She queried when he paused.

"If it's not an option, you're going to have to make a decision..."

"A decision?"

"Yeah..._argh!_" He ground out, running his hands roughly through his hair.

"What is it Lee?" Amanda asked, the concern evident in her voice.

"It's just...these are decisions you shouldn't have to be making Amanda!" When Amanda just stared at him he continued. "I was about to tell you...that if you can't get away, then you have to make the decision whether they're going to kill you or not."

"Kill me?"

Lee nodded. "You see...in your case, if you don't think they want to kill you, then your best chance is to just do what they say. That way you'll most likely get out of it unharmed...well, unless they want to torture you of course..." he added almost as an afterthought.

"_Torture_ me?" Amanda asked. _When did we get to torture?_

Lee realised what he'd said and tried to recover. "That almost never happens though..."

Amanda knew he was now probably lying to try to make her feel better. But strangely...it worked anyway. "Good."

"Usually they're either going to want to kill you...or just keep you out of the way until they've finished what they're doing."

"Oh..."

"Ahh...I'm sorry Amanda," Lee said seeing her face. "I'm not really explaining myself very well am I?"

"Oh, no...no...I think you've explained the kill, torture or kidnap options quite well..."

Lee gave her a look. "My point _is_," he said bringing her attention back to him. "That you should only resist and try to fight if you can't run, or you think that they might really mean you harm."

Amanda thought she understood what he was trying to say. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to achieve it though. Fair enough for the 'run and hide' option...but how she was supposed to decide whether the bad guys were going to torture or kill her before it was too late to be able to do anything about it, she had no idea. _I really need to talk to Mr. Melrose again about starting proper agent training,_ she thought.

Lee noticed Amanda's confused look. "Let's talk about the first two options later," he suggested. "And assume for the purposes of this exercise that you have to defend yourself."

"Okay, good," she replied nodding. _Finally I'm understanding something he's saying._

Lee considered for a moment. "You've had some practical experience in this field Amanda," he started. "Think of the times in these past few cases when you've had guys coming after you."

Amanda's brow furrowed as she nodded seriously. "Okay..."

"Now come at me like that..."

Amanda didn't move.

"Amanda? Something you didn't understand?"

"You want me to..." she started, raising her arms hesitantly out in front of her.

"Attack me..." Lee confirmed nodding.

Then Amanda rushed him so suddenly he only just managed to deflect her before she got her hands on him.

Amanda found herself standing on the other side of Lee, her back to him, not really sure how she got there.

"_Amanda_..."

She turned to face him.

"Did you see how I did that?"

She shook her head adamantly. "_No!_"

Lee laughed despite himself. The look on Amanda's face was just too priceless. "But you can see how useful it is to be _able_ to do it?"

At this she nodded just as emphatically.

"Okay," he said, the smile still on his face. "Let's slow it down a bit huh?"

"Yes please..."

Agent Brad Matthews watched the Scarecrow and Mrs. King in the mirror as he completed his bicep curls. Word around the Agency was that they were having a thing...and knowing the Scarecrow as well as he did, he had no doubt that if the other agent had his way, they would be. But looking at Amanda King, Brad Matthews wasn't so sure he believed the Agency gossip. She really was quite a beauty, but it was obvious both from watching her now, and seeing her around the building that she didn't really know how strikingly beautiful she could be. She did look as though she were a little enamoured of the Scarecrow, but Matthews had learnt a long time ago from personal experience, there weren't many women who were immune to his charms. But these two certainly didn't look as though they were involved. Honestly? She really didn't look the type to be having affairs with dashing playboy secret agents.

Brad Matthews smiled to himself as he continued to monitor their training session in the mirror while he completed his own. He was a decent looking guy, and he decided that if there really was nothing between the Scarecrow and Amanda King, that maybe he'd ask her out himself.

::::::::::::::::::

hope you enjoyed this one.

Much to Lee's disapproval ;) we'll be seeing a bit more of Agent Matthews in the coming chapters

thanks again for keeping the reviews coming - it's nice to know you're still enjoying the story.

I have been trying to make the training 'action' parts between Lee and Amanda come a bit quicker - but their personalities seem to get in the way :)


	6. Chapter 6

A/N

continuation of the last chapter. Agent Brad Matthews watches as Lee and Amanda continue their training session.

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

Amanda worked through the moves with Lee as he instructed. First they started off with her as the 'attacker' so that Lee could demonstrate how to block and deflect an attack. Then they switched and Lee became the attacker so Amanda could practice what he had taught her.

"_Amaaanda_...concentrate would you?" Lee admonished when he made it past her defences yet again, one hand landing on her shoulder, the other on her waist.

"I'm _sorry_! I am trying you know!" She replied shrugging him off, all too aware every time he touched her.

"Okay, let's try it again..." Lee said as he moved towards her.

"Really?" He asked, when his hands landed on her yet again.

"Could we slow it down some more? At least until I get the hang of it?"

Lee pulled back. "If I go any slower I'll be going backwards..." he grumbled, nevertheless agreeing to slow down his actions even further. After a while though, he had to admit it did seem to make all the difference.

Bit by bit he began to vary his 'attacks' and pick up his pace. He smiled as Amanda swiped his left arm away, propelling him behind her, spinning to face him as he rounded back to her.

"You're smiling," she noted, slightly out of breath, standing with her hands on her hips.

"You're doing much better...it was a good idea you had for me to take it slower than I was," he admitted.

Amanda returned his smile, grateful for his honesty.

:::::::::::

"You're better off if you can stop them from getting their hands on you at all, and that's where the blocking and deflecting we've been practicing comes in," Lee said as they took a break.

Amanda swallowed a mouthful of water. "And what happens if they do get their hands on me?"

Lee smiled. "That's what we're going to cover next."

:::::::::::

"_Lee_! Was that really necessary?" Amanda asked from her position on the mat.

Lee stood over Amanda and raised his eyebrows. "Are you going to ask the bad guy that?"

"Of course not..." Amanda replied, not looking at Lee's face.

He held out a hand to help her up. He really had taken it easy on her, simply putting her off balance. Her own momentum did the rest and she had landed unceremoniously on the floor.

Amanda looked at Lee's hand for a moment before she took it. She reminded herself that he was right. The bad guy wasn't going to worry about her comfort.

"Could we try slowing this one down too?" She asked rubbing her butt.

Lee's eyes followed the movement of her hand. "Did I hurt you?"

Amanda looked at him. "Is the bad guy going to ask me that?"

He smiled. "Now you're getting the hang of this!"

Again they slowed down the movements, Amanda 'attacking' Lee as he showed her what to do to counteract the attacks.

Amanda really was trying to concentrate on what Lee was showing her, but she was finding it difficult. She had to place her hands on him before he was able to show her what to do, and the feel of his hard muscles beneath her fingers was literally driving her to distraction. _Especially the way they feel when they move... _Amanda came out of her reverie to find her right hand on Lee's left shoulder, her left hand on his chest, his bemused eyes on her.

"Have you been listening to a _word_ I've been saying?"

"Yes," she replied sheepishly.

"So if we were to change positions right now you'd be able to get me off of you?"

Amanda realised where Lee's hand would be if their positions were reversed and blushed fiercely, before she quickly pulled her hands from his body.

"I didn't think so," he finished.

Amanda turned away from him for a moment, hoping he couldn't decipher the reason for her inattention.

They started again, and following Lee's little lecture Amanda was more determined to concentrate on her lesson.

"Okay, now come at me from behind," he said.

"Behind?"

"Yeah," he confirmed. "You know..."

Amanda slowly shook her head. "No. No I really don't know."

Lee sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. "Okay, I'll show you what I mean..."

Then he surprised her by calling out to the man on the other side of the gym.

"Hey Matthews..."

Agent Matthews looked up from unwrapping his hands after finishing with the speed ball.

"Would you mind giving us a hand over here for a minute?"

Matthews looked from Lee to Amanda and smiled. "Sure Scarecrow."

Lee made very brief introductions when Brad Matthews joined them.

"So what can I help you with?" Brad asked.

"I'm trying to teach Amanda some self defence..."

"Well...that's a _very_ good thing to learn Mrs. King..." Brad cut in addressing Amanda.

"Oh...it's Amanda...please..." She replied smiling. Brad Matthews was a _very_ nice looking man.

"Amanda," Brad replied softly, one side of his mouth lifting attractively in a small smile.

Amanda's gaze lingered on Brad for longer than was strictly necessary. He stood slightly taller than Lee, his dark hair closely cropped. Amanda noticed the wave in it, thinking that it would curl if he let it grow longer. And he had the most brilliant dark blue eyes, framed by the longest eyelashes she thought she'd ever seen on a man.

Lee cleared his throat loudly, interrupting the moment between the pair. _Is this guy for real? He's been here two minutes! And what's Amanda's deal? _he thought.

"Anyway...she's having some trouble understanding what I want her to do. I'm trying to demonstrate how to handle an attack from behind..."

Brad smiled at Lee. "So you want me to show her what to do?"

Lee grinned back. "Yep..."

"No problem," Brad replied moving towards Amanda.

"_Hey_!" Called Lee. "On _me_ wise guy..._not her!_" For some reason the thought of Brad Matthews with his hands all over Amanda rankled Lee. He was suddenly looking forward to throwing this guy head over butt.

Brad held up his hands. "Relax Scarecrow...I'm kidding..." He smiled back at Amanda.

_Oh brother, get a load of this guy! And Amanda's over there just lapping it up_... Lee thought as he watched Amanda return Agent Matthews smile.

:::::::::::::::

Amanda followed the arc that Agent Matthews made through the air before he thumped to the ground. He hadn't had his hands on Lee for more than a second before Lee reacted with such force that Amanda jumped back away from the two men. After the initial shock wore off, Amanda dropped to one knee next to Brad and hovered over him, anxious to make sure that he was okay. She certainly didn't want anyone getting hurt teaching her self defence.

"Oh my gosh! Agent Matthews," she squeaked. "Are you okay?"

Brad opened his eyes and grimaced. "Take it easy Scarecrow," he called back to Lee, before his gaze refocused on Amanda. "I'm okay..."

Amanda breathed a sigh of relief, sitting back on her heel. She looked up at Lee. "_Lee_!" She hissed.

Lee rolled his eyes, but Amanda had already turned her attention back to where Agent Brad Matthews still laid on the floor.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, concern still obvious in her voice.

"I'm fine," he assured her. Though as he started to sit up he groaned, reaching a hand up to his head. "Maybe I landed a little harder than I thought," he said laying back down.

"You landed on two layers of gym mats Matthews..." Lee pointed out flatly, not buying Matthews wounded act for a second.

"You did get up pretty high while you were flying through the air," Amanda looked at Lee as if he'd tried to murder Matthews in front of her instead of demonstrating a rookie hand to hand manoeuvre.

Lee shook his head, raising his hands in the air, not able to watch Amanda make a fuss over Matthews any longer. "I give up..." He mumbled. "I think we should call it a night Amanda," he said a little louder.

Amanda nodded. "I think that's probably for the best," she agreed. "I'm not sure I feel like being thrown over your shoulder tonight..."

Lee stared at her. "_Amaaanda_! Do you really think I'd throw you like that?"

"You didn't seem to have a problem throwing me Scarecrow..." Matthews pointed out.

"Well you do make wanting to _so_ easy!" Lee ground out. He simply couldn't believe the turn of events the evening had taken. He had to get out of there before he really _did_ do Matthews some damage. "Amanda...I'm going home."

"Okay," Amanda replied looking up at him. "Goodnight Lee. Thank you for tonight."

"I'll catch up with you tomorrow Scarecrow..." Matthews called out.

"Yeah..." Lee said as he walked towards the exit leaving the two of them on the mats.

After Lee left, Amanda turned her attention back to Brad. "Now you lay there a minute and I'll fetch you a drink of water, and then you might feel better."

When she returned, Brad was sitting up on the mat smiling. "Sorry for being such a wuss," he said taking the proffered bottle from her.

Amanda sat down next to him. "Now don't you be silly," she said patting his hand.

He looked at her sheepishly. "Can I make a confession?"

Amanda looked at him curiously.

"I didn't really hurt my head," he admitted. "I was just hoping for some sympathy from a pretty lady..."

Amanda laughed. "You already had that from the time I saw you flying through the air..."

Relieved that she wasn't angry with him Brad started laughing too. "You would have thought I would have learned by now not to sneak up on the Scarecrow...even when he asks me to..."

Lee stopped half way down the hall. "Way to act like a jerk Stetson!" He said out loud before turning back towards the gym, stopping short at the doorway when he saw Matthews sitting on the mat, Amanda sitting next to him. They were joking and laughing together, and for some reason he didn't quite understand, that bothered him immensely. He moved to the side of the doorway out of their line of sight, wondering just what was going on.

Brad took a drink of the water and looked at Amanda.

"What?" She asked at the bemused expression on his face.

"It's just nice to finally meet the lady who's tamed the Scarecrow," he said a small smile on his lips.

Amanda's brow furrowed. "I'm not sure what you mean by tamed..."

_I wouldn't mind knowing the answer to that myself._.. Lee thought from his place near the doorway.

Brads smile grew. "You and Stetson..."

_What_!? Lee thought.

"_Ohhh_..." Amanda suddenly realised what Brad was alluding to. "Agent Matthews..."

"Please call me Brad," he said interrupting her.

Amanda nodded "Brad, Agent Stetson and I aren't...involved, if that's what you were referring to."

Brad looked at her. "You're not?"

Amanda shook her head. "No. No...Lee and I are just...well, I think we're friends," she admitted. "I'm not exactly sure what he thinks we are."

_We're friends. Why would she think that I wouldn't think we're friends? _He wondered.

Brad laughed. "That seems awfully complicated to me," he said. "We've only just met and if anyone asked me...I'd say you and I were friends."

Amanda smiled, not used to having a secret agent be so frank with her. "You would?"

Brad nodded. "Is that okay with you?"

Amanda reached out to touch Brad's arm. "Of course it is!"

_Oh come on! You can't seriously be buying this!_ Lee admonished even though Amanda couldn't hear him.

Brad surprised Amanda by jumping to his feet. He held out a hand to her and she hesitated only a moment before placing her hand in his, a small thrill running through her at the contact.

He pulled her up to join him before looking around and giving her a rueful smile. "Looks like Scarecrow has left us with putting the mats away."

Amanda followed his gaze. "Oh I couldn't ask you to do that Brad," Amanda replied. "You weren't even working out over here."

Brad showed her a dazzling smile that was only second to the one Lee sometimes gave her. "That's what friends are for right?"

Amanda smiled at him. _I really like you Agent Brad Matthews._

Lee glared at him._ I really need to have a word with you Agent Brad Matthews!_

"You know Amanda," Brad began. "I was wondering...after we've finished clearing away the mats...well I mean..."

"Oh no you don't buddy!" Lee said under his breath as he barged back into the gym. "Hey Amanda," he called as if he'd only just arrived back there. "I realised I forgot about the mats," he said smiling, waving towards the objects in question. "Couldn't let you put em away all by yourself."

Brad and Amanda both turned to face Lee as he walked across the gym towards them.

"Hey, that's okay Stetson, I was going to help Amanda put them away..." Brad replied turning back to face her. "So if you've got somewhere else to be..."

"I don't," Lee replied.

Brad smiled. "Well, it's just that I thought that maybe..."

"You know what," Lee interrupted, smiling as he clapped Brad on the back probably a little too hard. "Thanks for the offer...but it really wouldn't feel right letting you help out with something that has _nothing_ to do with you..."

Brad was reading Lee's body language loud and clear. And it screamed _**Back off!**_ He turned slightly towards Amanda, pleased to see hers was saying something entirely different. As far as he was concerned, Scarecrow could play the heavy all he liked, but Brad knew for sure now, that Stetson and Amanda weren't involved. And until the lady told him herself that she wasn't interested...he had no intention of backing off. He also knew that now was not the time to challenge Lee about this, so he turned and smiled at Amanda, bowing towards her slightly.

"I hope I'll see you tomorrow Amanda?"

Amanda tossed her head. "Oh well," she replied, smiling shyly. "I do have to come in early in the morning to finalise some reports for Mr. Melrose."

Brad beamed. "In that case...would you let me buy you breakfast at the cafe downstairs?"

Lee couldn't believe it. This...whatever the hell this was...was happening right in front of him! _And I can't do a damn thing about it without letting Amanda know that I'm jeal..._ He cut that thought off. _Without Amanda _thinking_ that I'm jealous!_

"Well that would be lovely Brad, thank you," she replied, her smile nearly as wide as Brad's now.

"Until tomorrow then," he replied.

"I'll look forward to it..."

His eyes lingered on hers a moment longer before he turned to take his leave. He glanced at Scarecrow and could tell the other man was less than happy with this turn of events. Normally, the Scarecrow was not someone Agent Matthews would want to make angry, but right now, seeing the smile that he'd brought to Amanda King's face, he really couldn't care less what Lee Stetson thought.

"Scarecrow..." Matthews said as he passed by Lee on his way to the door.

"Blitzen..." Lee replied, calling the other agent by his code name for the first time.

Lee turned back to Amanda, then followed her gaze back towards Matthews retreating form. _I can't believe_... He turned back to her again ..._is she actually checking the guy out right in front of me?_

"_Amaaanda_!"

Amanda's attention snapped away from Brad and back to Lee, a slight blush colouring her cheeks.

"Do you mind?" He asked gesturing towards the mats

"I thought you said you didn't have anyplace else to be..." Amanda grumbled, casting one last glance towards Brad before he disappeared out the door.

Lee gave her a look before grabbing one of the mats.

"You know you really didn't have to come back," Amanda said as she grabbed the other side of the mat that Lee was hauling. "Brad would have helped me."

"Yeah...well...I didn't really like the type of help he was offering..." Lee mumbled.

"Did you say something?" Amanda asked.

"I said yeah...he's a helluva guy..."

"And his code name is adorable! _Blitzen_..." She said smiling again.

Again Lee rolled his eyes. _Scarecrow is way more _adorable_ than Blitzen!_ He groused to himself as they finished cleaning up the gym.

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

hope you enjoyed it :)

as always, thanks for all the lovely reviews, I really appreciate them


	7. Chapter 7

"So," said Lee, as he leant against Amanda's desk the next afternoon. "How was breakfast this morning?"

Amanda looked up from her work. "Hello Lee," she replied smiling. "It was very nice, thank you for asking."

"Oh...it was huh?" Lee replied, not doing a very good job of keeping the disappointment from his voice.

Amanda nodded. "Yes. Brad is a very nice man."

Lee plastered a smile in his face. "Yeah...he's a real prince."

"Do you know him very well?" She asked, looking more interested in the answer than Lee would have liked.

Lee sighed. "We've worked together on a few cases..."

"Oh?" interrupted Amanda. "Like what?"

Lee gave her a look. "That's classified."

Amanda nodded solemnly. "Right...of course..."

They sat there in silence for a moment. "So, did you want something?" Amanda asked finally.

"Huh?"

"When you came over," she clarified. "Did you want something, or did you just come to ask about breakfast?"

Lee frowned at her. "_No_! I did not just come to ask about breakfast!"

Amanda just looked at him expectantly.

"I came to see if you wanted to train some more tomorrow night?"

"Oh," Amanda replied looking down.

"What?" Lee asked when she didn't answer straight away. _You mean when she didn't say yes straight away..._

"Well do you think we could make it for earlier in the day?" She asked.

"Well I guess maybe I could move some things around..."

"Oh good," Amanda replied. "It's just that I'm having dinner with Brad tomorrow night."

Lee felt like he'd been punched. "Oh," was all he managed to get out.

Amanda frowned. "Is something wrong?"

Lee recovered quickly. "Why would anything be wrong?"

"Well," Amanda began. "It's just that, you didn't seem too pleased when I told you that Brad and I were having dinner tomorrow night that's all."

"Don't be silly Amanda," he replied a little too quickly. "Why would It bother me who you were having dinner with?"

Amanda looked down. "I guess it wouldn't," she acceded.

"Unless of course they were an enemy agent," added Lee. "And knowing the trouble you seem to attract Amanda...it wouldn't surprise me..."

Amanda looked back to him, not hiding how unimpressed she was with that comment.

"So," he said smiling all of a sudden. "Tomorrow...at say...ten?"

Amanda raised her brows. "Okay."

"See you then," he said as he rose from her desk and walked off.

Amanda was about to return to her work, more than a little puzzled by Lee's strange behaviour at the end of their conversation when Francine stopped next to her.

"Oh that's just great," she grumbled.

Amanda looked up. "What?"

Francine motioned behind Amanda. "Anna Sinclair is back in town."

Amanda turned to see a very attractive woman standing next to Lee. _Well that explains the hasty departure_, she thought. "She's an agent?"

Francine nodded.

"I haven't seen her here before," Amanda commented.

"She primarily works abroad on deep cover assignments," Francine explained. "Every once in a while she turns up back here for a few days to debrief. Though she never stays longer than a week. And then she's gone again." Francine snorted. "And Lee comes in every morning looking like death warmed up..."

"Why would Lee come in..."

Francine gave Amanda a pointed look, interrupting her question.

Amanda turned to look at Anna Sinclair again, feeling a stab of...she wasn't exactly sure what...when she saw how closely the other woman was standing to Lee. "_Ohhhh_..."

"That's one word for it," Francine said in reply.

"Oh, well, she must be very good to have all those important assignments," observed Amanda, trying not to be petty.

"She's the best," Francine acknowledged. "But she's also a world class bitch right along with it."

"_Francine!_" Amanda hissed, shocked by Francine's statement.

Francine shrugged. "Just telling it like it is Amanda," Francine replied. "Anyway, that's enough water cooler gossip," Francine said as she moved away. "Work to do."

:::::::::::::::

Amanda noticed that Lee did look a little ragged when he turned up for their training session the next morning. _Half an hour late!_

"I have someone coming to help us today, knowing your aversion to being thrown."

"Oh good,"Amanda replied smiling. "Is it Brad?"

"No! It's not _Brad_!" Lee replied. "Anna is one of our best agents, and she's agreed to help us out today."

Amanda stiffened at hearing the other woman's name.

Just then the 'lady' herself walked through the door.

Lee smiled as she walked up to him.

Amanda couldn't quite figure out how she managed to look seductive wearing gym gear, but she did. It wasn't lost on her how Lee noticed as well.

"Lee," said Anna as she reached him.

"Anna Sinclair, this is Amanda King. Mrs. King has been helping us out around here in a civilian capacity, and I've been teaching her some self defence. Amanda, I'd like you to meet one of the Agency's top field agents, Anna Sinclair," Lee said by way of introduction.

"Hello," Amanda said, holding out her hand.

Anna looked at it a moment as if Amanda were offering her a dead fish, before finally taking it briefly. "Mrs. King."

"Oh," said Amanda, waving her hand and smiling. "Just call me Amanda."

Anna turned back to Lee. "You neglected to mention we'd be having company when you asked me to...train with you last night."

"Did I?" He asked innocently.

"Mmm...hmm..."

"Must have slipped my mind..."

Anna looked at Lee a moment before smiling. "Yes well...considering the _other things_ you had on your mind last night...I can see how it could have..."

Amanda looked between Lee and Anna and felt distinctly uncomfortable all of a sudden. She was a very attractive woman, but Amanda couldn't shake the feeling that Lee was being sized up by a smiling crocodile.

"So," Anna said, managing to sound bored in just one syllable. "What are we doing?"

"Well Amanda and I have been working on defensive techniques for a few days, and we're up to how to defend against a rear attack."

Anna nodded. "And you want me to...what?"

Lee smiled. "Be my attacker...Amanda has an aversion to being thrown..."

"Oh, well," Amanda interrupted shaking her head. "If you'd seen the way he threw Agent Matthews..." She drew an arc with her arms. "He just..._flew_ through the air..."

Anna positively grinned at Lee then. "Really Lee? You didn't do that to poor Brad again did you?"

"Excuse me..._again_?" Asked Amanda.

Anna turned to her and laughed. "Yes, well it really was quite a funny story. You see, we were in this little town in..."

"Anna..." Lee cut in.

She looked from Amanda to Lee and back again. "Sorry Amanda, but Lee's right...national sec..."

"National security..." Amanda finished for her. "I understand." Though she _really_ wanted to hear that story!

"So now that's settled," Lee said pointedly. "Anna...if you would be so kind..."

Anna smiled and raised an eyebrow at Lee as she moved behind him. She moved to reach her arms around him.

"Oh, please be careful..." Amanda cautioned, worried that Lee would throw Anna like he had Brad.

Something she _definitely_ didn't need to be concerned about.

Lee felt Anna move in close to him, her cheek resting against the back of his neck, her left arm over his shoulder, her right down lower over his right arm and around his hips.

Amanda's eyebrows rose and she looked away as Anna adjusted her grasp on Lee. _I'm pretty sure the KGB would never grab Lee there!_ She thought, as from the corner of her eye, she saw Lee quickly move Anna's hand back up to his hips.

"Behave," Lee murmured.

"Okay Amanda," he began when they were finally in position. "So you can see how Anna has me in her grasp..."

"Oh yes," Amanda agreed. "I can see that..."

Lee chose to ignore the tone of Amanda's reply and continued. "See she has my upper right arm trapped, so I have to use that position against her," he said as he moved his right forearm up so that his right hand grasped her right wrist.

Amanda watched intently now as Lee moved.

"Then I reach as far as I can over my shoulder with my opposite hand to grab onto her, at the same time tilting my hips backwards into her..."

Lee squirmed and bit his tongue to stop himself from crying out when Anna ran her tongue behind his right ear. _Thank god Amanda can't see that! _He kept talking through his actions as best he could under the circumstances.

"My hips act like a fulcrum for me to be able to more easily lift her and then follow through with the throw..." He looked from Amanda back over his shoulder towards Anna. "You ready?"

"Of course," she purred in his ear as she dug her nails into his chest.

"Now remember Amanda, Anna's a professional and she's ready for me to throw her. So don't be concerned that she's going to get hurt..."

Amanda smiled, and it felt fake even to her. "Oh, I'm not worried about that at all..."

A moment later Lee moved and lifted Anna from the ground. She went slightly sideways over his shoulder in a graceful arc, much smaller than the one Brad Matthews had taken. She managed to cushion the fall slightly with her legs before she landed on her back on the mat. Then something neither Amanda nor Lee had expected happened. Anna hooked a leg around one of Lee's and grabbed onto the front of his shirt, pulling him off balance and down to land on top of her.

"What was that?" Lee demanded, his lips barely an inch from hers.

Anna smiled. "I acted...you reacted...I counteracted..."

Lee smiled and shook his head. "You can't help but come out on top can you?"

Anna chuckled, a low throaty sound as she looked down the length of their bodies. "I wouldn't say that I'm _always_ on top Scarecrow...you should know that better than anyone..."

Amanda cleared her throat. "Would you two like to be alone?"

At the sound of Amanda's voice, Lee looked away from Anna towards Amanda and she was happy to see that he at least had the good grace to look embarrassed. Anna's gaze however never left Lee.

He rose and held out a hand to help Anna up. Once on her feet she held onto his hand for a moment before letting it go.

"So," Lee said turning back to Amanda. "Forgetting that last part," he gave Anna a pointed look. "Did you see how I did that?"

Anna rolled her eyes and turned away at Lee's admonition.

Amanda nodded. "I think so, but..."

"But what?" Asked Lee.

"Well you were able to do that to Anna easily enough, but she's a lot smaller than you..."

"We'll change places," he suggested. "And then you'll see that if you employ the right techniques you can overcome the size difference..."

Lee moved behind Anna and placed his hands on her in the same way she had done to him. "Okay," he said. "Ready when you are."

Anna smiled and moved her hips back into his, pulling his arms tighter around her.

Lee cleared his throat and looked nervously over at Amanda. "Uhh...Anna...you can throw me now..."

"Oh but why would I want to...when this feels so..._delicious_?"

"Anna..." Lee warned.

Anna frowned and without further delay threw Lee clear across the mat. He landed heavily, the air knocked out of him. She stalked over to him, standing above him one hand on her hip. "Happy now?"

"Geez Anna," Lee grumbled from the floor. "Take it easy...we're only doing a demonstration here..."

Anna shook her head and let out a loud sigh. "This was fun for about ten minutes Lee, now I'm getting bored!"

"Anna..." Lee implored as he rose to his feet.

"No! This is ridiculous! We're the agency's top two operatives," she said. And then, glancing at Amanda. "We are most certainly _not_ school teachers."

Lee looked quickly at Amanda, then back to Anna. "Anna come on...lighten up will ya?"

Anna brows rose as she replied. "Lighten up? _Lighten up Lee?_! I have three days before I leave for my next undercover, and...no offence to Mrs. King...but I can think of more _enjoyable_ things I'd rather be doing with you right now..."

Amanda rose a hand briefly when Anna said 'no offence'. When she put it like that Amanda could understand that the woman had other things she'd rather be doing than helping to train her. She just chose not to think about what those things were. Especially if they were with Lee.

It seemed Lee realised that as well as he looked rather contrite all of a sudden. "Okay," he said. "I'll call you later?"

"Yes...I expect you will..." Anna replied as she turned and walked away.

"It was nice to meet you," Amanda called out to the other woman's retreating form.

Anna raised a hand to acknowledge that she'd heard Amanda, but failed to reply.

Lee watched Anna leave the gym then turned back to Amanda. "Uhh...I'm really sorry about that Amanda," he said sincerely. "Anna can be a bit..."

_Of a bitch?!_ Francine's words sprung into her mind, but she didn't voice them. Instead she did the 'typical Amanda thing' and smiled and made excuses for the woman. "Oh that's okay Lee...she's probably under a lot of pressure and really does have better things to do than help train me."

Lee smiled back at her, always surprised at how forgiving and compassionate Amanda could be. "Well that's very nice of you to think that Amanda."

Amanda shrugged.

"Shall we continue?" He asked finally.

"Alright."

"Do you want to have a go at throwing me?"

"Oh no...I really don't think I'm ready for that yet. I'd like to see how you did it again first."

"Okay," Lee agreed. "Well you come round behind me and put your arms around me like Anna did..." At seeing the look on Amanda's face, Lee realised that Amanda must have seen Anna's hand 'slip' earlier. He blushed a little himself before regaining his composure. "Come on..." he urged her.

Amanda moved around behind Lee and placed her arms loosely around him.

"Now move your body in closer to mine, and tighten your arms around me," Lee said easily, back in training mode again now.

"Closer and tighter," Amanda repeated out loud. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut as she moved her body flush against his and tightened her hold on him. _Ohmygoodness...ohmygoodness...ohmygoodness..._

"Now remember what I did with Anna?" He asked as he moved one hand to her wrist, the other reaching back over his shoulder to grab her shirt at her shoulder, his hip moving back into her. When Lee grabbed Amanda's sweat shirt, he pulled her into even closer contact, her face touching his cheek when he turned his head slightly towards her. His senses were suddenly overwhelmed by her...her closeness...her scent...He felt the pounding in his chest as his heart rate increased, his breathing becoming a little ragged.

"Lee?" Amanda whispered hoarsely.

_Oh god...she doesn't know what she does to me with that voice of hers sometimes..._

Lee's eyes met Amanda's, and he realised he was moving into dangerous territory with someone whose friendship he didn't want to jeopardise. He faced forward again and tried to clear his thoughts and calm himself down. After a moment he thought he was probably composed enough to continue..._I gotta do something, we can't just stand here like this all day..._

He cleared his throat. "Okay...I'm going to lift you a little so you know what it feels like."

Amanda wasn't sure what had just happened with Lee, but at his words her mind was brought straight back to the matter at hand. "Don't flip me...don't flip me..."

"I'm not going to flip you..." Lee reassured her as he moved forward causing Amanda's feet to lift off the ground slightly.

"_Lee!_ Don't flip me!"

He put her back on the ground, but held their position. "Amanda...do you trust me?"

"Of course"

He turned his head back towards her again slightly. "Then _trust_ me..." He felt her nod against his shoulder, so he moved again. This time higher and faster.

Amanda shut her eyes tightly and trusted in Lee that he wouldn't flip her. She felt herself lift swiftly from the ground and move much higher than before. She resisted the urge to cry out, and breathed a sigh of relief when he returned her soon after, safely to the ground.

Lee let go of Amanda, smiling to himself when she failed to relinquish her hold on him. "You can let go of me now Amanda," he said softly.

Amanda's dropped her arms from Lee's body and took a step backwards.

He turned to face her and smiled. "See...told you I wouldn't flip you..."

Amanda returned his smile and nodded. "You didn't flip me..."

Lee crossed his arms over his chest and regarded her. "Could you feel how easy it was for me to lift you?"

Amanda nodded. "I still don't think I'd be able to lift you though...you're pretty heavy..."

Lee straightened up. "Hey!"

"Oh, but I didn't mean that you...that you're...I meant heavy for me to lift..." Amanda quickly added. But in typical Amanda fashion she felt like she had to continue. "I mean..._you_...you're really in very good shape...I'll bet..."

Lee folded his arms again and continued to look at her.

"I'm sure there's practically no fat there..." She said gesturing towards him. "All muscle..."

Lee raised his eyebrows, trying very hard to keep the smirk from his face. It was _really really_ difficult...

When Amanda started wringing her hands he decided to let her off the hook she'd placed herself on. "Could we get on with it now?"

Amanda grimaced. "Yes please..."

"Okay, so we'll trade places. I'll put my arms around you and you can have a go at lifting me. It'll be easier than you think if you do it properly, I promise..."

"Alright," Amanda agreed turning her back to him. "But don't be surprised if I can't even make you budge."

Lee moved in closer to her. "You need to have a little more faith in yourself Amanda," he encouraged as he wrapped her right arm under his, his hand coming to rest on her hip, and placed his left arm down over her shoulder. He felt his heart rate begin to climb again as soon as he moved in close to her and he fought against it. _Get it together Scarecrow! This is Amanda!_ "Now I'm going to move into you, and tighten my hold...okay?"

"Okay," Amanda replied softly. She bit her lip when she felt his arms tighten around her, pulling her backwards, hard against his body. When he spoke again, she felt his lips move against her ear.

"Grab onto my wrist with your right hand..." She did as he asked, and his fingers involuntarily flexed against her hip bone.

"Reach over your right shoulder with you left hand and grab a hold of my shirt and pull me towards you as hard as you can..."

She reached over her shoulder as he'd directed and pulled him forward so that she could feel the warmth of him against the back of her neck.

"Now...shift your hip back into me..."

Amanda tried to ignore her racing heart and the difficulty she seemed to be having taking her next breath, and just tried to listen to the sound of his voice. But he sounded different somehow, in a way her addled brain couldn't quite figure out. She didn't catch the hoarseness of his voice when he spoke. Or the hitch in his breathing when she did as he commanded...

"Now..." he started, but his voice wouldn't work properly.

"Now?" She asked, surprised that her voice worked at all.

He cleared his throat for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last hour. "Now..." _Nope, still not happening. Breath Lee! Damn it!_ He took a deep breath and tried again. "Now...keep a firm hold of me and start bending forward," he said, relieved that his brain seemed to be returning to some form of sane thought. "You should be able to feel my weight on you as you do."

Amanda tightened her grip on Lee and did as he said. She could feel his weight shift onto her the further forward she went.

Lee felt his feet lift from the ground and he smiled. "See...told you you could do it..."

"You mean I've actually lifted you off the ground?" Amanda asked, incredulous.

"Yep. Now put me back down and try it again a little faster like I did with you okay?"

"Yeah okay," Amanda agreed as she straightened up and felt Lee's weight lift from her.

With the excitement at Amanda's success, they'd both momentarily forgotten the sensations their being so close had caused, concentrating wholly now on improving her skills.

"So remember to get a good firm grip and tilt your hips back into me, then lift..."

"Gotcha...you ready?"

"When you are," Lee replied.

"Whoa!" Lee cried when Amanda lifted him much further than he thought she would. He didn't think he was far from tumbling right over.

Amanda dropped Lee back to the ground letting him go.

Lee was more than a little surprised that mere seconds after his feet touched the ground, he was now face to face with Amanda. She'd turned that quickly he didn't have a chance to let her go. His arms around her still held her close, but now they were facing each other. The excitement of her success written plainly on her face.

Amanda felt herself flush when she realised the position she'd placed them both in. She was staring straight ahead, her eyes fixed on that hollow at the base of Lee's throat. She watched the muscles of his throat move as he swallowed and felt a wave of hysterical laughter bubble up when she almost succumbed to the urge to place her lips there. Fighting against both, she placed her hands flat against Lee's chest and looked up to his face. _Why isn't he letting me go?_

_Why aren't I letting her go?_ Lee wondered. _Just...let her go... _His brain commanded. But his arms wouldn't move. Her eyes met his and his breathing stopped, his heart hammering so furiously he was sure she must be able to feel it the way she was pressed against his chest.

Francine walked into the gym, a wide grin spreading across her face at the sight before her. "And what part of the training manual is that manoeuvre from Scarecrow?" She called out.

The moment was broken instantly. Lee dropped his arms from around Amanda and stepped quickly away, giving Francine a death stare. Though in reality he was relieved that she had turned up when she did. He didn't know what the hell had just happened, but he knew he didn't like it and he berated himself for it. _Despite what you like to think, Amanda's the best friend you've ever had and you are NOT going to let your screwed up hormones ruin that. You've never had a shortage of women to choose from...but let's face it...friends are a lot thinner on the ground for you pal. So start treating this one the way she deserves to be treated...and that certainly doesn't include having you breathing heavy all over her when she's trusting you to teach her how to save her life!_

"I think I need to take a break after that," Amanda said quietly as she turned away from Lee and walked to where her water bottle was.

Lee didn't know whether Amanda meant she needed a break after lifting him, or what had come after. But he didn't blame her for either. He turned his attention back to Francine.

"Something I can do for you Francine?" He asked walking over to her.

"Oh no," she said still grinning. "Just came down to see how the training was going." She looked over to Amanda. "But I can see you're _training_ her just fine."

Lee gave her a look. "It wasn't like that."

"Sure Scarecrow...whatever you say..."

He put a hand on her arm. "I'm serious Francine. I don't want any gossip circulating that something's going on between me and Amanda."

Francine's expression softened as she placed a hand on top of his. "Sorry to be the bearer of bad news Lee...but that piece of gossip is already out there..."

"Francine..."

"Hey it didn't come from me," she protested. "You two do spend a lot of time together you know."

Lee nodded his assent to that.

"If it helps," Francine continued. "No one thinks it's serious. I mean the way you see a different girl from the steno pool practically every other week, then Anna when she's in town...not to mention all the other women we don't know about..."

"Hey," Lee protested. "I don't see that many women!"

Francine patted his hand. "I wasn't saying anyone has a problem with it Scarecrow. Everyone knows that's just the way you are..."

Lee looked troubled by that.

"Don't beat yourself up about it." Then she gave him a small knowing smile. "No one I've ever compared notes with has ever complained."

Lee laughed despite himself, grateful for Francine's attempt to make him feel better.

"Lee," Francine began more seriously.

"Yeah?"

"I know it's not like that with Amanda..."

Lee nodded. "Thank you Francine," he said sincerely.

"Just...don't let it become that way either. Okay?" she warned.

"I don't know what you mean."

"I'm serious Lee. You can't be _the Scarecrow_ with Amanda. He's all...romance and dashing secret agent. And he sweeps women off their feet," she took a breath and glanced over at Amanda before looking back to him. "Even when he doesn't mean to. You know you'd break her heart."

Lee sighed as he too looked over at Amanda. "Well who am I supposed to be Francine?"

Francine gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. "Just be Lee."

"See you later Amanda," Francine called out as she left the gym.

"Oh...bye Francine," Amanda replied from her place on the bench.

Lee raked his hands through his hair as he watched her leave. "I don't even know what that means..."

After a minute Lee turned back to Amanda and walked over to join her on the bench. "You've done well this morning."

"Amanda swallowed her mouthful of water. "I have?"

Lee smiled. "Yeah. Although," he continued. "I always knew you'd be able to do it. It was yourself you had to convince."

"Oh, well..." Amanda replied shyly, shrugging her shoulders. She was positively basking in this seldom bestowed praise from Lee.

"Hey," Lee said, nudging her with his shoulder. "I'm serious you know. You really need to give yourself more credit. I reckon without too much more effort I would have gone right over your shoulder."

Amanda giggled. "Hopefully not as high as poor Brad went the other day."

Lee nodded and let out a small chuckle. "I may have gotten a little carried away," he admitted.

"A little? You scared me half to death when Brad went over your shoulder like that."

Lee became a bit annoyed at Amanda's continued concern for Brad. "You know, you've seen me thrown a lot higher than that plenty of times Amanda! And not by friendly training partners either!" He pointed out.

"I know that Lee," Amanda agreed. "And it really does scare me a lot more than I was with Brad every time it happens."

Lee turned to her. "It does?"

Amanda nodded solemnly. "Oh yes, of course it does! Or when someone has a gun on you, or tries to run you down with their car...or tries to throw you out of a helicopter...or an aeroplane. Or off a train, or when..."

"Okay, okay Amanda," Lee interrupted, placing a hand on her arm to stop her. "I get the idea."

"Well you do have a very dangerous job you know. It seems you're always getting hit or tied up or shot at or thrown off of or out of something or other..."

Lee laughed. "I know...I'm usually there for most of it too..."

Amanda gave a small nod. "Of course you know all that." She shrugged. "I know all this emotional stuff makes you uncomfortable, but I just worry about you that's all."

Lee gave her arm a quick squeeze before removing his hand, not wanting to get back to where they were before Francine came in. "Thank you Amanda. I know I probably don't show it most of the time, but I do appreciate you being my friend."

"You think we're friends?" She asked, unable to keep her voice from breaking a little bit.

Lee smiled _that_ smile. "Of course I do." Her words to Brad Matthews about this every subject had tugged at his heart and he was happy to be able to finally put her mind to rest on this at least.

Amanda did her little head toss and smiled.

"Hey, let's call it a day huh?"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Like I said you've made a lot of progress today. Besides, we wouldn't want to tire you out for your big date tonight would we?"

Amanda looked momentarily puzzled before she remembered she was having dinner with Brad tonight. "Right."

It wasn't lost on Lee that Amanda had forgotten about seeing Brad tonight. _Matthews obviously didn't make that big of an impression after all, _he thought smugly. And even after his own warnings to himself, he couldn't help but feel very pleased indeed about that.

::::::::::::::::

A/N

hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it was a long one, but I just couldn't break it up like I did the last one.

thanks to everyone that's been reading and for all the reviews. Thanks as always to the guest reviewers as well. I appreciate them all and the feedback really helps :)


	8. Chapter 8

A/N

Sorry for taking so long to update this one. I've had it almost done for a while, but couldn't quite make up my mind about a few scenes. Hope you enjoy.

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

Dotty watched her daughter from the doorway of her bedroom. She smiled and shook her head as she walked over to gently place her hand on Amanda's to still it.

"Darling," she said to Amanda's reflection. "You look wonderful already."

Amanda met her mothers eyes in the mirror and returned her smile. "Thank you mother. I'm just so nervous about tonight," Amanda admitted. "And I'm worried this dress is a little too..."

"_Everything_?" Dotty supplied.

"Yes," Amanda agreed. "A little too..._that_..."

Dotty laid her hands on Amanda's bare shoulders and lent down to place her cheek next to her daughters.

"You like this man..."

"Brad," Amanda reminded her.

"You like Brad a lot, don't you?"

Amanda shrugged slightly. "I don't know," she said looking away, thinking about her answer before she turned to look at her mother. "But I think that maybe I could."

"Is this the man you've been spending so much time with at work lately?"

Amanda shook her head and smiled widely when she thought of Lee. "Oh, no. I only met Brad properly a few days ago."

Dotty noticed Amanda's response when she mentioned the other man that she seemed to spend all her time with. Not so much what she said, but the way her whole face seemed to light up at even the thought of him. She wondered why it wasn't _him_ Amanda was having dinner with tonight. It seemed to Dotty that Amanda knew _exactly_ how she felt about him._ I hope he's not married,_ she thought.

"Well all I know is, he must have made quite an impression to have you so nervous about going out to dinner with him," Dotty said finally.

Amanda smiled. "He's a very nice man."

_Not a patch on the smile that our Mystery Man gets though,_ thought Dotty as she moved to look out Amanda's front window when she heard a car pull up. She watched Brad get out of the car and walk through the gate towards the house.

"And I can see _why_ he's made such an impression," she said turning back to her daughter. "Amanda, that man is gorgeous!"

"_Mother!_" Amanda replied as she stood and made her way downstairs just as Brad rang the doorbell.

"Hello Brad."

Brad smiled when he saw Amanda in the doorway. "Amanda, you look amazing."

Amanda smiled, feeling a slight blush creep over her face. "Thank you. You look very nice too."

"This old thing?" He asked, flicking the lapel of his very well tailored charcoal suit jacket.

Amanda laughed as she opened the door wide. "Would you like to come in for a minute before we go?"

Brads smile widened as he stepped past her. "I would, thank you." He followed Amanda into the kitchen, his eyes widening a little when he saw how low cut the back of her dress was. He was thankful to every god there ever was that he'd invited her out to such a fancy establishment, and then suggested they go dancing afterwards so he had the privilege of seeing her in such a stunning dress. His fingers ached to reach out and lightly graze her perfect skin. _How is the Scarecrow not falling at this woman's feet..._

Brad was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of Amanda's voice. "Brad, this is my mother Dotty West."

Dotty smiled and stepped forward holding out a hand towards him. "It's so nice to finally meet someone that Amanda works with Brad."

"Mrs. West," Brad replied, taking Dotty's hand and bowing over it slightly. "It's lovely to meet you."

"Oh call me Dotty please," she said, her free hand going to her chest. _Oh Amanda...this one's a keeper..._

"Mom, who was at the door?" Phillip called as he and Jamie rushed into the kitchen from upstairs.

Brad turned to see the two King boys burst into the kitchen side by side. The smaller one had her looks.

"Boys, this is Mr. Matthews," Amanda replied. "Remember I told you yesterday I was having dinner tonight with someone from work."

Phillip and Jamie glanced at each other and shared a smile that Amanda chose to ignore. _Those boys are growing up way too fast..._

Brad noticed the boys look and tried to suppress the smile that threatened._ I like these boys..._

"Brad, this is Phillip and Jamie."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Matthews," Phillip and Jamie chorused.

Brad smiled. "It's good to meet you too," he replied sincerely. "And I want you to know that I appreciate you fellas loaning me your mom for the night."

"Aw that's okay," Phillip replied.

"Yeah, it'll do her good to have dinner with someone besides us for a change," added Jamie.

Amanda's eyes widened at her two sons.

Brad couldn't help but laugh at their replies.

"Come on you two," Dotty interrupted, moving to place a hand on the shoulders of her two grandsons. "Let's get you upstairs and cleaned up for dinner."

"Alright Grandma," Phillip replied.

They both moved forward to give Amanda a hug. "Night Mama."

"Love you," Amanda replied, giving each boy a kiss on the temple. "Make sure you mind your Grandma."

"We will," they replied in unison.

"It was nice to meet you Mr. Matthews," Phillip said as they turned to go up the stairs.

"Have a nice time Mom," called Jamie as he raced his brother to the top.

"Goodnight darling," Dotty said, giving Amanda a quick hug. "It was lovely to meet you Brad."

"And you Mrs. West."

"Dotty...please..."

Brad smiled his reply, tilting his head slightly.

They watched as Dotty followed the boys up the stairs and then turned back to each other.

"Shall we?" Brad asked, motioning towards the door.

Amanda smiled, picking up her purse and her wrap from the hall stand.

Brad took the wrap from her and placed it lightly over her shoulders, Amanda's hand brushing his when she reached up to take a hold of it. He felt his heart skip a beat at the contact. It shocked him at first that such a simple thing would have such an affect on him. After a moments consideration though, he realised that it also pleased him very much.

Amanda waited as Brad opened the door for her, then took his proffered arm as he escorted her down the walk. She took her seat in the passenger side of the car and let Brad close the door for her. She was glad he had an everyday normal sedan. She didn't like to think how difficult it would have been to make it in and out of Lee's little Porsche in this dress and still maintain her modesty.

They reached their destination, and Amanda was suddenly very glad she had chosen the dress that she wore. This was the most exclusive place in town and she never thought she'd be spending an evening here. She watched as Brad rounded the front of the car to open her door and help her out of her seat. _Let alone be spending it with someone like Agent Brad Matthews..._

A valet came for the car as Brad escorted her to the door of the restaurant where a doorman waited to welcome them.

After they were settled, Amanda looked around taking in their surroundings. "Brad this place is so beautiful."

Brad followed her gaze, seeing what she saw. "I wish I could see it through your eyes Amanda," he replied shaking his head sadly.

She focused her attention back on him. "What do you mean?"

He showed her that small lopsided smile he wore the other day in the gym. "How could I possibly think anything is beautiful when..." He gestured with a hand across the table towards her. "When I have you sitting across from me," he let his eyes very briefly travel over her. "Looking the way you do tonight."

Amanda felt herself blush under his scrutiny. She wasn't feeling uncomfortable with the attention and compliments he was paying her. More like...unaccustomed. "Brad," she murmured, concentrating on her hands in her lap. "You don't have to say things like that."

Brad shook his head in wonder at her. "Amanda, look at me," he said softly.

Amanda raised her eyes to meet his.

"You really have no idea, do you?" He asked her.

"About what?" She asked, worried that she had missed something yet again. It seemed that was always happening with Lee.

"How extraordinarily beautiful you are..."

She waved him away. "Brad..."

He caught one of her hands in his, making her look at him again.

"Amanda..."

She looked into his eyes.

"Can't you see that I mean every word?"

And in that moment, she could. Then came that smile again, and she couldn't help but return it.

"Much better," he said, giving her hand a slight shake before releasing it. "You really need to learn how to take a compliment."

They shared a wonderful dinner, lovely wine and good conversation. Most of all they enjoyed each other.

As Brad folded her wrap around her shoulders, he let his hands rest there for a moment.

Amanda reached up a hand to his and turned to look at him. "Thank you for a lovely evening Brad. Dinner was wonderful."

When the valet brought his car, Brad offered her his arm once more. "You know the evening is not over yet," Brad reminded her. "That is, if you still feel like going dancing."

Amanda smiled. "I wouldn't miss it," she confirmed. "I love dancing, and I hardly ever get to go out." She thought of the few times she'd accompanied Lee to parties. All the elegant couples on the dance floor. Well tonight she got to be part of one of those elegant couples and she was very much looking forward to it.

Again, Amanda knew of the place Brad had chosen to take her dancing. She just never thought she'd be going there.

"Would you like to sit in the lounge and have a drink? Or..." Brad smiled and held out a hand. "Would you care to dance?"

Amanda took Brad's hand and he led her to the dance floor.

Their first dance was tentative. He held her a little stiffly, and she didn't quite relax into him.

After a few songs, they left the dance floor to get some refreshment.

"You're a very good dancer," Amanda observed when they took a seat.

Brad held up his hands. "You caught me...I took dance class in high school."

Amanda smiled around her straw. "You did?"

He nodded smiling. "Hey, that's where all the girls were."

Amanda laughed.

"So what's your excuse?"

"I also took dance in high school," she admitted. "And unfortunately, that really was where all the girls were."

It was Brad's turn to laugh.

"Are you ready to go again?" He asked when Amanda finished her drink.

She smiled and took his hand.

This time they were much more comfortable with each other.

He held her closer, and she let him.

Amanda let her body curve into his, feeling his arms fold gently around her.

Brad had been tentative the first time they had danced. Itching to let his hand move over her bare skin, he had restrained himself from doing so, keeping his hand to the side of her dress where the fabric made it safer. Now, feeling her relax into him, he felt more comfortable himself, so he let his hand rest lightly in the middle of her back.

Amanda rested her head on his shoulder, her face in the crook of his neck. _He smells wonderful..._

Brad let his hand move down to rest on the small of her back just above where the fabric started. He smiled liking how warm her soft skin was against his palm.

:::::::::::::::::

"Lee," Anna pouted from the passenger seat of the Porsche. "I don't want to go dancing."

"Come on Anna," Lee encouraged. "We've been cooped up inside all afternoon."

"I didn't hear you complaining this afternoon," she pointed out as she reached over and ran her hand along his thigh.

Lee caught her hand and brought it to his lips.

Anna smiled. "You know, if you're trying to convince me I don't want to go straight back to my place...you're going about it all wrong..."

Lee chuckled and he knew he had her.

Lee spotted Matthews on the dance floor as soon as he walked through the door. He couldn't believe he would take Amanda out to dinner, then come out dancing with another woman.

"So are we going to dance?" Anna asked when Lee hadn't moved towards the floor.

He looked at her. "Uhh...let's get a drink first."

"Lee!" Anna called as he moved off without her towards the lounge. She caught up to him at the bar. "We could have had a drink at my place."

Lee got their drinks and they sat down. He put Anna so her back was to the dance floor. That way he could keep an eye on Matthews and use Anna as cover at the same time.

His eyes followed the couple as they moved. He had to hand it to Matthews...the lady was a stunner. _And that dress!_

Then he became indignant again on Amanda's behalf. Nothing excused this sort of treatment! O_f course, I could be wrong altogether. Maybe Amanda cancelled their date and Matthews just found someone else to go out with. A very, very attractive someone..._

In spite of his feelings regarding the other mans behaviour, he found he couldn't keep his eyes off the woman Matthews had wrapped in his arms. And she was wrapped alright! Matthews had her pulled in close against him, her head resting on his shoulder. Much to his dismay, as they moved, the couple swung around so that Lee lost sight of that enticing expanse of bare back the dress displayed. He still couldn't see her face though because of the way she had her face tucked into his neck.

"Lucky sonofa..." Lee grumbled.

"Did you say something?" Anna asked.

Lee's attention was brought back to his own date by her words. "Uhh, no..." He felt awful that he'd was neglecting Anna so badly. At first it was justifiable. He had to find out what was going on with Brad Matthews...for Amanda's sake. Then his attention had been taken completely by the woman that Matthews was dancing with. And wasn't that just about as bad as what he had been accusing the other man of?

"You seem preoccupied since we got here," Anna said, knowing full well what had Stetsons attention. She had also seen Brad Matthews as soon as they had entered the establishment.

"I do?"

"Yes...with Brad Matthews," she replied.

Lee looked at her.

Anna laughed at the look on his face. "You do realise you're not the only agent here Scarecrow..."

Lee sighed. "Yes I do realise that I'm not the only agent here."

"So what's so fascinating about Brad all of a sudden?" She asked. "You know if you'd rather be dancing with him..."

Lee gave her a sardonic look. "Oh you're a real riot tonight," he replied. "It's just that Brad was having dinner with Amanda tonight...and now he's here dancing..."

Anna nodded, not understanding what Lee was trying to say. "And why is it a problem that he's here dancing with Mrs. King?"

Lee looked at Anna like she'd lost her mind. "_What?!_" Then he looked back at the couple on the dance floor, and he literally felt the blood drain from his face when he realised she was right. _**Amanda?! **_He grabbed onto the edge of the table. _I feel faint...that's Amanda! My Amanda!_

"Ooh...don't tell me...is she still married?"

Lee tore his gaze away from..._Amanda?._..to look back at Anna. "Uhh...she's separated from her husband. Has been for over twelve months."

Anna shrugged. "So what's the problem?" She asked.

Lee shook his head and plastered on a smile. "No problem. Of course no problem." Lee searched his mind frantically for a reason he was behaving the way he was. "Uhh...it's just that..._Amanda_..." He could even feel himself tripping over her name. "...said she had an early morning with her boys tomorrow...so I was surprised to see them here this late..."

Anna looked at him. "O-kay...now we have that weirdness over with...do you still want to dance? Or not."

Lee felt Anna's bare foot slide up his leg under the table.

"Because my vote is for not!"

All Lee really wanted to do right now was get out of there without being seen, not wanting Amanda to think he was following her. Just as he was about to agree with Anna the next song started.

_Be damned if I'm going to slink out of here just because Amanda King is here. I didn't follow her here and I don't care who she's here with or how much they're all over each other. She's about to see just how much I don't care..._

Lee finished his drink in one swallow and stood, holding out his hand to Anna. "Just one dance," he said flashing that smile. "Then we'll go."

Anna looked up at him as she slipped her foot back into her absurdly high heeled shoe. She smiled as she took his hand. This was going to be fun, they hadn't done this in years. _Like riding a bike..._

When she stood, she was a few inches taller than him in those heels, and as Lee followed her to the dance floor he couldn't help but admire how much of that height was made up by those legs!

"Oh Brad," Amanda said, lifting her head from his shoulder as the next song started. "I may be able to do a mean cha cha, but I really can't tango."

Brad smiled. "That's okay Amanda," he replied. "I'm not too crash hot at it either."

Many of the couples left the floor when the music started. In fact only four were left there at all.

Amanda settled at a table as Brad went to get them a drink. She turned so that she could see the dance floor. She really wanted to see the couples that were brave enough to stay out there for this.

Her eyes widened. "_Lee?!_"

Brad noticed Stetson and Anna out on the floor as he made his way back to Amanda. _What is this guy up to?_ He wondered. _I knew he wasn't happy about me seeing Amanda, but I didn't think he'd follow us..._

"Brad," Amanda said as he sat down next to her. "Do you see Lee and Anna out on the floor?"

Brad smiled as he watched the couples begin to move to the music. "I see them alright..."

Amanda watched for a minute as the couples danced, then turned to Brad. "I've never seen a tango the way they're doing it...it's very different to what everyone else is doing."

Brad took a sip of his drink and nodded. "They're doing the tango the way it was meant to be done...and they're _very_ good at it."

Amanda's eyes widened as Lee and Anna performed a very intricate move. "Where did they learn to do that?"

"We spent some time holed up on the Argentinian border. There was a lot of waiting around doing nothing, so we went to an old cantina every night...there was an old couple there who taught Lee and Anna how to do the _real_ tango."

"You must have felt a little left out," Amanda observed, dragging her eyes back to Brad, her interest immediately piqued, always wanting to hear anything she could of Lee's past.

He shrugged. "I learnt how to do it too...just not as good as they did. I guess I didn't have the same..._passion_...for it..."

Amanda turned back to watch the remainder of the dance, noticing that the other couples had left the floor and Lee and Anna had it to themselves. She looked around the room...they had every person there captivated by their performance. As Amanda watched their sensual movements, she realised what Brad was saying...they couldn't dance like that if they didn't share the same passion off the dance floor as well. She couldn't imagine herself ever being able to move like that with anyone.

When the music stopped, the room erupted in applause for the couple. They looked around, seemingly genuinely surprised that there were other people present.

"We are leaving, _now_," Anna whispered in Lee's ear.

After awkwardly acknowledging the applause, Anna grabbed Lee's hand and pulled him from the dance floor and out of the exit.

"Well no prizes for guessing where they're heading after _that_ performance huh folks?" The band leaders voice came over the microphone.

There was a rumble of laughter around the room as the next song started.

Brad noticed the change in Amanda's demeanour after the Starlight and Scarecrow show. He didn't like to admit that seeing Stetson with Anna had had an effect on Amanda, but it was too obvious to ignore. _Maybe there is more there than I thought_, he thought to himself as he watched her finish her drink.

"Amanda, would you like to call it a night?" He asked, hoping her answer would be no.

Amanda felt guilty about cutting their night short, but Lee and Anna's little demonstration had affected her more than she'd like to admit. She knew she cared for Lee, she'd never denied that. But she kept telling herself that she cared for him as a friend and nothing else. She did feel a little funny every time he mentioned a lady friend that he was seeing, or let it slip that he had a date. But she always put that down to the fact that he seemed to see so many different women, that she was worried he'd never meet a nice girl and settle down. But seeing the fire between him and Anna...

"I think that might be best Brad," she looked at her watch. "It is getting awfully late and I do have to get up for the boys in the morning."

Brad sighed, but smiled and nodded nonetheless.

::::::::::::::::

Brad walked Amanda to her door, expecting maybe a small kiss goodnight, he didn't expect her to ask him inside.

"Are you sure Amanda?" He asked. "I wouldn't want to wake your family."

Amanda waved a hand. "They won't hear us from upstairs."

Brad smiled. "Well then, yes. A coffee would be very nice."

:::::::::::::::::::

"You're going _where_?" Anna asked as Lee stood from her couch straightening his shirt.

"I forgot that Billy asked me to talk to Amanda about a job that's coming up. He wants an answer first thing in the morning about whether she can help out." Lee lied, as he hung his tie around his neck. He wasn't going to spy on Amanda or even talk to her. He just wanted to make sure she got home alright. Anna...they both...got a little carried away with the tango earlier and...well...he was worried that she might be upset. _You're just friends Scarecrow...why would she be upset? Did you fail to notice how tight Matthews was holding her when you arrived..._

"Get out Scarecrow..." Anna yelled as she stood up.

"Anna," Lee wheedled as he moved to place his hands on her hips.

She pushed him away. "I am just so..._amazed_...that you would rather spend the night with a suburban housewife from Arlington, than me..."

Lee held out a hand. "Whoa, Anna...it's not like that between Amanda and me..."

Lee cringed when the door slammed shut behind him. He had a feeling that his and Anna's long standing _arrangement_ had just come to an end.

::::::::::::::::::

Amanda kicked off her shoes and made her way to the kitchen to put on the coffee machine. When it was done she joined Brad on the couch in the family room.

"I hope you don't mind," she said, indicating her bare feet as she tucked them up under her.

Brad chuckled, shaking his head. "As lovely as you ladies look in those things, I don't know how you're not all permanently crippled by them."

Amanda sighed. " I do have to admit that I'm a 'runners' type of gal."

"A woman after my own heart," Brad admitted.

They talked for a while and it was very nice. Amanda felt herself relaxing again, forgetting about what had happened at the club. Without really realising it, they moved closer to each other on the couch, and Amanda's heart began to beat just a little faster when Brads hand moved to hers, his fingers tracing the back of her hand and up her forearm.

Brad swallowed. "I know we haven't known each other very long...but I really like you Amanda."

Amanda smiled. "Well, I like you very much too Brad."

"This may not be very romantic," he started. "But...may I kiss you?"

Amanda hesitated a moment before she nodded slightly. That lovely little smile that made Amanda's stomach _almost_ flip crossed Brads face as he lent into her, and she tried to clear her mind of the only smile that made it do summersaults.

Lee parked around the corner and made his way to Amanda's backyard, pleased to see there were still some lights on in the kitchen. What he didn't notice was Blitzen's sedan parked in Amanda's driveway on the other side of the house. As quietly as he could he passed through Amanda's side gate._ I gotta remember to have her oil those hinges_, he thought wincing at the slight creaking sound as the gate closed behind him.

He hoped Amanda was already home. He really didn't like to think of her being out this late at night with Matthews. He decided not to knock in case Dotty had waited up to see how her daughters date had gone. Taking up his usual position at her kitchen window he listened for a moment. Not hearing anything he slowly rose to peer through the glass.

And froze...

He blinked, then dropped back down on his haunches out of sight._ I did not just see what I thought I saw..._

Taking a deep breath Lee rose to look through the window again. _Okay...I did just see what I thought I saw,_ he thought to himself as he watched Amanda..._with Blitzen_...on her couch.

"Calm down Stetson," he murmured. He took a deep breath and tried to steady himself. His first impulse had been to burst in there and pull Matthews off of Amanda. How dare he lay his hands on her? But after that momentary flash of red had passed he managed to think more rationally. Amanda was an adult. She had obviously invited him in. Lee took one last glance through the window before he turned to leave. _And she obviously isn't struggling against him..._

Lee made his way quickly out of Amanda's yard to the safety of his car. He smacked the steering wheel and shook his head. "So much for wanting to make sure she was okay," he said out loud. "Oh...she's just _fine and dandy._.."

_And why am I so upset about this?_ He knew his behaviour was irrational. He knew he had no right and certainly no reason to be feeling so..._angry_...

Then for a moment he let it through. What he pushed down far below the surface. What he'd never, ever admit to. Not even to himself. For just a moment, he let it through and it was there. Fully formed. Solid and large as life. And his heart ached. Then those walls slammed shut and he could breath again.

He started his car and drove home. He thought about going back to Anna's house, he'd even made it half way there before he'd changed course. He was still rational enough to realise he wanted to go back to Anna for all the wrong reasons.

He let himself into his apartment and poured himself a large scotch. Kicking off his shoes he sat heavily on his couch and downed half the drink in one go.

"What the hell are you getting yourself into Scarecrow?" he demanded of himself before finishing the drink and going for a hot shower.

:::::::::::::::::

"Thank you for a wonderful evening Brad," Amanda said softly as she walked him out to the driveway.

"Oh, believe me Amanda. It is definitely me who should be thanking you," he replied as he unlocked his car.

"Well you drive carefully, and I'll see you at work tomorrow," she said placing her hand on his arm.

Brad checked his watch and they laughed.

"Later this morning then," Amanda corrected.

"Goodnight Amanda," he said, leaning over to place a chaste kiss on her lips.

She smiled her reply, waving as his car backed out of her driveway.

SMKSMKSMKSMKSMK

A/N

I hope you all liked it, and as usual thanks for all the reviews. I appreciate each and every one :D


	9. Chapter 9

Lee walked in to the bullpen and glanced over at Amanda's desk. She had headphones on, busy transcribing some tapes for Billy. That was a good enough excuse for Lee to head straight to his own desk and not make the detour to hers to say hello like he normally would. Usually he would head over to see her no matter what she was doing, but he was putting off seeing her this morning. As he sank down into his chair he admitted to himself it was because he didn't know what to say to her.

He was embarrassed at how he'd acted last night. And for some reason he couldn't really understand, he had the almost overwhelming need to tell her that he'd come to her house later in the evening. And he really _really_ didn't want to have that conversation, so he thought it better to avoid her until that absurd notion disappeared.

"And what exactly did you get up to last night?" Francine asked as she stopped in front of his desk.

Lee broke from his thoughts to look up at her. "I don't know wh..."

"Duck!" Francine hissed.

"Wha?"

"Now!" She ordered.

Lee had been on enough missions with Francine to know when she was being serious, so he quickly ducked under his desk pulling the chair towards him.

"Well!?" He heard a woman's voice, demanding as much as questioning.

Francine smiled. "Sorry Anna," she replied. "Scarecrow's still not here."

Anna huffed crossing her arms over her chest. "He should have been here by now," she complained.

"You know I think I heard Billy on the phone to him a little while ago," Francine bluffed. "Didn't sound like he was going to be in anytime soon. Sounded like he was in Buffalo."

"Buffalo?"

"Buffalo!"

"Well I can't wait any longer, I need to get to the airport."

"I'll let Lee know that you waited as long as you could," Francine assured her. "Any message?"

Anna levelled her gaze at Francine. "Yes," she said, her voice like ice. "You can tell him $&*€£¥..."

Francine's just stared after Anna as she stormed out of the bullpen towards the outside elevator. After she was sure the other agent was gone she turned back to Lee's desk. "The coast is clear," she said to the top of his desk. "You can come out now."

"Are you sure?" Came the muffled reply from underneath.

"Get out here you coward!"

Lee peered cautiously out from under his desk before he rose slowly to his feet. "Thanks Francine, I owe you one."

Francine looked at him for a moment. "Well you could start by telling me exactly what you did last night to deserve that little performance?"

"Let's just say that the evening didn't turn out quite the way Ms. Sinclair had in mind." He shot a quick glance in Amanda's direction. She continued to type away, blissfully unaware of the events of the last few minutes. Apparently the headphones she was wearing had insulated her from Anna's little tirade. He was thankful for that at least.

Francine followed his gaze and her eyebrows rose. "Ahhh...now I understand..."

Lee looked back at her then back at Amanda. "What? No, you don't. It has nothing to do with Amanda..."

"Uh huh," Francine said as she moved away. "You just keep telling yourself that Scarecrow."

Lee got coffee and slumped back in his chair. He knew Francine was on to something, just not what she thought she was onto. He cared for Amanda...how could he not, having been the one to get her involved in this business in the first place. But he wasn't prepared to let it go past that. Anything that seemed like it was going to go past that was to be folded up and placed neatly in a little box with a very big padlock on it!

Just then Brad Matthews walked into the room and headed towards Amanda. Lee bristled as he touched her lightly on the shoulder to make her aware of his presence. He watched her look up from her work and remove her headphones when she saw it was Blitzen. He also noticed the look on her face, which was not what it had been yesterday.

"Hello Brad," Amanda said quietly.

"Good morning," Brad beamed back at her as he perched on the side of her desk.

Amanda's heart pounded in her chest. She had something she had to say to Brad Matthews that she didn't think he was going to like very much, and she hated to do it as he was really a very nice man. But she hadn't slept at all last night after he had left, her mind a whirlwind of activity. And early this morning she had come to a decision and knew what she needed to do.

"I had a really nice time last night Amanda," he said when she didn't speak. He could see the emotions crossing her face and hoped this wasn't leading where he thought it was.

Amanda smiled weakly. "Brad, I really do like you very much..."

Brad took a deep breath before nodding his head slowly. "You don't have to say it Amanda."

"But Brad, I really do think I owe you an explanation," she tried.

He smiled then and looked over at Lee Stetson sitting at his desk.

Lee looked away, but he knew Matthews had seen him watching them. Even from half way across the room he could tell what was going on. He just wished he didn't feel so damned elated about it.

Amanda followed Brad's gaze and was surprised to see Lee sitting at his desk. Then she realised what Brad must be thinking. That she didn't want to see him anymore because of Lee.

"This has nothing to do with Lee," she assured him, although she was fairly sure he didn't believe her. She pressed on anyway. "I've only recently broken up with someone. And it wasn't too long before that I separated from my husband."

Brad watched her intently.

"I think it was a mistake to get involved with someone so soon after my divorce and..."

"And you don't want to make the same mistake again?" Brad finished for her.

"I'm sorry Brad," she replied. "I realised after you left last night...that I'm just not ready for a serious relationship."

Brad gave her a small smile. He was upset, but he wasn't angry. "That's okay Amanda," he assured her. "I understand."

Amanda smiled back feeling like a weight had been lifted from her. "I'm glad."

He lent in a gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek. "I've enjoyed the last few days getting to know you a little better," he said as he stood up. "You take care Amanda King." And with that he was gone.

Amanda sighed and turned to look over at Lee where he still sat at his desk.

Lee looked up when he sensed Amanda stop in front of him.

"Good morning," she said.

"Hi."

"I didn't realise you were here yet."

"Well, you looked busy," Lee replied, gesturing to his ears with his hands.

Amanda nodded.

Lee sat for a moment without saying anything, then, "Tough morning huh?"

Amanda shrugged. "It was too soon after Dean. And Dean really was too soon after Joe..."

Now it was Lee's turn to nod.

Amanda smiled slightly. "Seems as though you had a pretty rough morning yourself."

Lee blanched. "You heard that?"

Now Amanda grinned. "Headphones don't keep out that much noise."

Lee laughed despite the situation. He felt better, as though he and Amanda were back to where they should be. "Hey," he said after a moment. "You feel like doing some training this morning?"

Amanda looked over to her desk, knowing she should really get back to the transcripts she had been doing. But somehow she felt that expending some energy downstairs in the gym was a much better prospect right now than sitting at a desk.

"I'd like that very much..."

Lee sobered a little as he looked at her. "So would I."

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A/N

One last training session to go. Thanks to everyone that's been following the story and thanks as always for all the reviews :)


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